Guardians of Great Lakes
by allanarcher777
Summary: At first glance, one would think Ronnie Anne, her brother, and her cousins were nothing more than part of a large family. But in truth, they are a team of super heroes that protect their city. They are the Guardians! (Spin-off of The Sound Barrier)
1. Chapter 1

**Helloooo, everybody! Allanarcher777 here with a brand new series. Just as The Louds protect Royal Woods as The Sound Barrier, Ronnie Anne and her family protect Great Lakes as The Guardians. And now, it's time for them to officially get their own series to document their own hero adventures as well.**

**Though, this first part of the first episode will actually be used to build up the series re-occurring baddy. And they aren't getting into action on their own. If you saw the teaser back in The Sound Barrier, you know who will appear here...**

**So let's not dwaddle. This may be a bit short, but hopefully it gets you excited!**

* * *

Episode 1: Disaster's diversion.

[PART 1]

"Prisoner 10142019. It's time for dinner!" A large prison guard barked from down the hall of concrete and steel bars. He growled as he walked down the halls of Great Lakes Penitentiary while holding a tray of food. The sneers and grumbles of various convicts didn't disturb him in the slightest. He had grown quite use to them over time. Especially since The Guardians, the heroes of the city, seemed to be dragging in more and more criminals as the days went by. If he had been stationed in the meta human wing of the facility, then he would be a little uneasy. At the end of the hall, he saw the man he was addressing. Though they refused to step out of the shadowy corner of their cell.

"Must you refer to me by a number like that? It really is inhumane." The inmate groaned as he looked down at the floor, not bothering to make eye contact with the man.

"Well it's more humane than what you planned to do." The guard countered "Luckily the Sound barrier and The Guardians stopped you before you could use that weird gunk on everyone in the city." The inmate growled, clearly upset with the memory. As the tray was slid into his cell, the prisoner glanced at it and grimaced. The icky mess of questionably edible brown matter repulsed him immensely.

"What even is this stuff? Does the health department even know what this is?" The question tempted the guard to say something to keep the prisoner quiet, however, he stopped himself as he looked at the brown gunk. A bubble formed from the center and slowly grew to a large size before popping. The guard felt bile rise up from his stomach, but he retained his composure and reluctantly swallowed it.

"You may have a point. I think I'm going to go talk with the chef to find out what that is. Last thing I want is to be out of a job because of the health department." The man grumbled as he walked away, leaving the prisoner alone. Gazing at his tray, the prisoner could only muster out a long and depressed sigh. He reached out for the spoon on the tray and tug into the mush. Slowly, he was about to shovel it into his mouth. But then, a voice called out from behind.

"My sources say that stuff is a mix of beef and baked beans. All ground up into a flavorless paste." The convict stopped upon hearing the voice. Immediately, he turned towards the barred window of his cell and found a woman hanging from the edge, illuminated under the pale moonlight. She wore a black one piece suit, had midnight black hair with a red highlight running through it, and her lips were coated in a deep crimson lipstick. "I'm so glad to finally meet you, Epimetheus." She greeted. Upon hearing his name, the inmate walked out from the corner and revealed his face. His thick square glasses and neatly combed hair starkly contrasted the orange jumpsuit he was forced to wear. As well as the scar that now resided over his left eye.

"Just who are you?" He asked.

"For now, you may call me Ratatoskr. I'm here because you and I are similar. Perhaps you could call me a 'kindred spirit' of sorts?" Curious, Epimetheus walked closer to the window. "We both have ambitions. I seek power and wealth. You desire to push humanity into a new era of evolution. Perhaps we could help each other get these goals achieved if you came to work for me?" Ratatoskr proposed. Epimetheus stroked his chin. He was still somewhat skeptical about this mysterious woman.

"If I were to accept, what would I gain from you?" He asked.

"As a member of Vulcan, you would receive various boons. Such as a top of the line laboratory, staff, finances, and equipment." Ratatoskr offered. Epimetheus chuckled a little after hearing the offer.

"Well that sounds promising. But obviously you want something in return."

"Not much. Just access to anything you whip up. Anything that I can sell to high bidders or use for myself. We can discuss finer details later." She offered. Both were silent for a moment as Epimetheus contemplated the offer. "Well, do you accept?"

"…If you can free me from this miserable cell." Upon hearing that, Ratatoskr laughed gleefully.

"Oh, don't worry. I thought of a fool proof plan for everything." Ratatoskr glanced down to her side, pulled up a small black box, and slid it through the bars of the window. Epimetheus grabbed it and opened it to see what was inside. Epimetheus' eyes widened as he saw a small glass dart filled with purple liquid and a gray dart gun. "I think you might recognize that." Ratatoskr stated.

"I do. This was an early prototype for my Ambrosia serum. Unfortunately it didn't turn out so well." Epimetheus let out a small sigh and shook his head. "Poor Mr. Smiggels."

"My men searched your old lab and managed to find this hidden in the walls. The police weren't as through as they should have been." Ratatoskr laughed. "Anyway, just shoot that guard with it when he comes back. And leave the rest of your escape to me." She instructed. Ratatoskr then started to climb down from the wall. "Oh, and Epimetheus… Welcome to Vulcan." With that, she vanished from view. Epimetheus gazed upon the dart gun and smiled as he loaded the dart into the chamber.

"Hey! What are you looking at?" Epimetheus glanced behind him to find the guard that gave him his food before. The mad scientist cackled in delight.

"Oh, nothing much. Do you want to see it?" He asked. The guard grumbled and unlocked the cell, proceeding to stomp in.

"If this is some immature prank, you're getting a straight to solitary confine-." The guard didn't finish as Epimetheus quickly spun around and shot the man in the neck. "AGH! What did… How…?" The guard stumbled backward and started to gargle and choke as if something was inside of his throat. His skin started to turn a sickly shade of purple and slowly inflated around him.

"Yup… Just like Mr. Smiggels." Epimetheus recalled almost nostalgically. As the guard continued to transform, a small explosion occurred from behind Epimetheus and the wall of his cell fell apart. Ratatoskr was leaning on the other side twirling what looked like a detonator for a bomb.

"Come on, Doctor. I'll give you the full orientation on the way to your new facility." She beckoned. Epimetheus smiled as he ran after Ratatoskr.

"Doctor… Oh, I think I'll love this job." He assured himself as the mutated guard grew even large and oozed out of the hole in the wall while letting out a bone chilling roar.

* * *

**That's right, Epimetheus, the one responsible for The Guardian's existence, is back! And Hellena is as clever as ever... Checking facts provided to her and digging deeper. Always planning out things to the finest detail.**

**Shame that security guard had an undesirable part to play though. Poor guy...**

**On the bright side, nothing kicks off a new hero series like a giant monster! See you soon for part 2!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ba da da da! Part 2 baby! Sorry I kept you all waiting for so long. So I won't waste anytime here.**

**Let's roll!**

* * *

Episode 1: Disaster's diversion.

[PART 2]

The evening was rather pleasant at The Casagrande's apartment. The children, save for Carlitos, were all gathered in Carlota's room. "Carlota, could you refresh my memory of what we are doing here?" Carl asked in an eerily calm tone.

"There is a junior fashion design competition coming up and I really want to dazzle the judges." Carlota explained as she knelt down beside her little brother and thread a sewing needle through his outfit. The others couldn't help but snicker at the sight.

"Okay. But does that explain why I'm wearing a dress!?" Carl shouted angrily. He waved his arms around his torso to emphasize the absurdity of the frilly red and white dress he was forced to wear. Following his outburst, Ronnie Anne and CJ transitioned from chuckling to full on laughter.

"It's because you're the only one who matches the same size as the models the competition will have." Carlota explained. Her voice didn't have even the slightest bit of remorse or pity in its tone. "Now hold still. I'm almost done with these final little stitches." The teen commanded as she focused on the outfit. CJ still couldn't help but laugh at his brother's misfortune.

"You look silly." Ronnie Anne nodded in agreement.

"You really walked into this you know. Who would believe that there was ever such a thing as a suit with a 'waist cape'?" The rambunctious child teased.

"It's not funny!" Carl whined as a small amount of smoke came out of his hands. Before Carl could escalate into a full on fire ball, an intense quake shook the building. The children were sent tumbling from the shock, and Carlota accidentally dug the needle into her little brother. "Ouch! Watch it!"

"Sorry, Carl. It was an accident." Carlota instantly apologized. Eventually, the shaking stopped and things calmed down. From there, things were intensely silent. No one dared to make a move in case another quake occurred. Their guards dropped as they heard their grandfather call out from across the hall.

"Is everyone okay?" Bobby walked over to the door and leaned his head out into the hall.

"We're fine, Abuelo." He reassured before looking back towards the others. "Anyone else have a sinking feeling that wasn't a normal earthquake?" He stated worriedly. Having a gut feeling her brother was right, Ronnie Anne walked over to the window and gazed upon the various buildings. She squinted as she saw some sort of purple glow in the distance.

"Yeah… I think we better step in and clean this up." She stated. With a collective nod from the group, CJ ran off to his room to log on to his computer, while Ronnie Anne and the others activated their hero watches. In a small display of light, they transformed into their super hero attire. Gazing out to the window once more, Ronnie Anne, now Relay, linked arms with everyone. "Alright Guardians… Let's do this."

Relay closed her eyes and the group instantly were warped across town, landing on top of a roof. Supernova stretched and sighed in relief. "This is more like it. I'll take my awesome costume over a dumb dress any day." He celebrated. "Alright, so where is the bad guy?" He stated fiercely as he pounded a fist into his open hand. Just then, a couple of screams were heard from the streets below. The four looked down to see a group of citizens running from a purple light. The team slowly looked towards the source of the glow and saw what was causing the panic in the citizens.

A giant blob, colored with a deep purple hue, oozed through the city streets. Its speed was incredibly slow, yet intimidating as parking meters and cars were absorbed into its body. At the top of the mass was what looked like a face. It was seemed to be frowning, but didn't indicate a true emotion in its wrinkly eyes. It stopped moving as it drew close the building the heroes were standing on, then turned its head to face them. None of them dared to make a move in front of the monster.

Nervous, Relay pressed against the communicator in her ear. "Command, any ideas?" She asked in hopes CJ would be able to chime in with something useful.

"I don't know. But maybe he's friendly?" He suggested. As if to prove him wrong, the monster's eyes narrowed and the beast let out an intense roar. The intensity of its battle cry sprayed saliva all over them. "Never mind." CJ muttered. The monster raised its arm up and made a fist to try and crush The Guardians. Immediately. Glamour raised her arms and created a dazzling flash of light. The creature then covered his eyes, blinded by the light.

"Okay, I want to make this quick so my costume doesn't get ruined." Glamour huffed. "Glacier, think you can just freeze that thing in place?"

"Not a problem, Glamour." Glacier jumped from the roof and started to create a slide of ice for him to descend from the roof and onto the street below. By the time he made it to the ground, the monster had recovered from its blindness and growled in anger. "Alright buddy this won't hurt a bit." Glacier then proceeded to spray a stream of frost that covered the monster's body. The ice grew larger and larger, slowly encasing it. "Wow, this was easier than I thought." Glacier laughed happily. However, his joy was short lived as he noticed the ice began to crack a little bit. Then, the monster began seep from the cracks and escape from the shell. Growling and letting out another roar as it escaped. "Well that was a bust." Glacier moped.

Supernova couldn't help but snicker as he went down his cousin's ice slide and followed him down to the street. "Oh, Glacier. Obviously something like this is more sensitive to fire. Watch how a real hero does it." As the young child bragged, he stretched his arm out and blasted a large fire ball at the beast. The point of impact turned a little lighter in color and had a few marks from the burn. "See? Just let me handle this and we'll be done in no time." As Supernova bragged, the burn mark continued to bubble rapidly until it spontaneously burst, trapping both him and Glacier in a giant ball of goop.

Both didn't speak in fear of swallowing the material by mistake. But Glacier was able to shoot his little cousin a disapproving gaze while the monster's wound regenerated. Relay shook her head in frustration and pressed the communicator in her ear again. "Command, if Glamour and I distract that thing, can you get us an analysis?" She asked.

"I'll see what I can do." CJ responded. Relay looked straight at the monster and teleported right in front of its face. She then proceeded to deliver a kick to one of its eyes. Unfortunately, her foot got stuck within the slime as a result. The monster gurgled and tried to grab Relay, but Glamour shot a few beams of light into it and caught the monster's attention. Glamour ran to the edge of the building and leaped off the side. As she fell, she made a series of platforms out of light to help her move to the next rooftop. Relay took advantage of the opportunity and warped down to where Glacier and Supernova were trapped.

Relay reached into the blob and pulled both of them out by their heads. The boys took deep breaths of air as they crawled out with their now freed arms. Glacier hugged his little sister and gasped. "I don't think I'm eating PB and J sandwiches for a while."

"Guys! I think I found something!" CJ shouted through the communicators. "That thing is made of a giant blend of different things. It makes it very sensitive to certain elements like when Supernova made it burst."

"Anything that can help us stop it without making the town look like a vineyard?" Glamour asked as she fired another beam at the monster. The beast managed to block her shot and slammed its hand on top of her. When it lifted him, Glamour was trapped in a bubble of jelly like material.

"Well, it looks like whatever it's made of is also sensitive to water." CJ noted. Upon hearing that fact, Glacier and Supernova looked at each other and grinned.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You know it." Glacier and Supernova looked up at the monster and both fired streams of ice and fire respectively. The two elements collided mid flight and the fire melted the ice into a torrent of water. As the clear liquid collided with the monster's jelly like skin, it roared in discomfort as it jiggled and began to shrink. Glamour managed to free her head from the jelly bubble and saw her family push back against the beast.

"It's losing steam, but I don't think it's going to stay still for long." Glamour noted as she saw the monster adopt a frustrated expression. Relay looked around in hopes of finding something that would help. Her eyes settled on a single red fire hydrant and a hardware store. A smile grew on her face as she ran inside the building and scanned the aisles as quickly as she could. Eventually, she spotted a wrench and quickly grabbed it off the shelf. Quickly glancing back to the fire hydrant outside, she teleported next to it slammed the wrench into place. Relay groaned as she turned it and loosened the bolt, causing a torrent of water to burst out of the hydrant.

The monster roared as the water started to melt it more rapidly. "Nice thinking, Relay!" CJ complimented as the monster shrank. Its size being drastically reduced as the water overwhelmed it. As it shrank, CJ saw something through the video feed that seemed peculiar. The monster's purple coloring was fading to that of a peach shade. Its shape became more humanoid. Looking closer, CJ realized what was happening and gasped. "Guys, stop!" He pleaded. Upon hearing the desperate cry, Relay closed the hydrant and the boys stopped their attack.

"What's wrong, Captain C?" Glacier asked. The heroes looked down where the monster used to be and were appalled by what they saw. In place of the gooey monster was a simple man. He was lying face down and shuddering. The sight was made more troubling with the fact he had no clothes on. No one found the strength to speak as they were too stunned with the reveal. Glamour, who had managed to free herself from the jelly bubble, came down onto the streets with the others.

"What's going on? Did we win?" Glamour asked in confusion. Her gaze drifted toward the ground and she saw the man lying there. Immediately, Glamour screamed in terror. "Wait, that thing was a person!? Is he… dead?" She asked nervously. Relay dropped the wrench and walked over to the man. She thought back to the basics of nursing she saw her mother employ and grabbed the man's wrist.

There was still a pulse. "G-g-go away…" The man mumbled to himself. Relay breathed a small sigh of relief.

"He's fine. But he looks pretty shaken up." Pressing the communicator in her ear, she contacted CJ. "Captain C, can you call an ambulance for this guy?" She asked.

"Of course."

"Thanks buddy." Relay turned to the rest of her family. "I got to go put this wrench back in the hardware store where I found it. Hopefully the police will cut this guy a break." She stated as she walked away with the tool in her hands. A troublesome thought popped into her head as she walked away.

'_Why do I feel like he didn't do this on purpose?'_ Relay thought to herself in fear.

_'And why do I feel like this was just an omen for something worse?'_

* * *

**Thus the battle comes to a close. And Ronnie Anne is right to listen to her gut here. She has no idea what rude awakening is yet to show their face.**

**Now before I leave, I would like to say a few things.**

**First, I want to write a few more episodes of this series before I go adding more full length adventures for The Sound Barrier. Though I will occasionally still throw in mini-sodes for them.**

**Secondly, If the reader who thought up that theme song for The Sound Barrier is reading this... I would love for you to work your magic again here! **

**See ya around, everybody!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again everyone. I'm back with another episode of Guardians of Great Lakes! This one features a focus on Ronnie Anne's best friend, Sid Chang. **

**Honestly, I hope things aren't going to fast with this series. But I had this idea for a while and I really wanted to do it! And who knows... maybe the events that happen here can be used in the future? Well, enough chatter. Let's get started with episode 2!**

* * *

Episode 2: Here, Siddy Siddy.

[PART 1]

The sun was shining down brightly on the city as Ronnie Anne and Sid walked through the local park. In Ronnie Anne's hand was a brown bag bearing the logo of The Burpin' Burger. The enticing scent of burgers and curly fries started to make their mouths water. "Oh man, I can't wait another second. I have to eat these now!" Sid clamored as she made a ferocious looking motion towards the bag in a playful manner. Ronnie Anne held the bag back with a smile.

"Hey, don't forget my food is in here too." She reminded. "I still can't believe you never ate at the Burpin' Burger before." Sid shrugged.

"I was curious, but never really got the chance. But that changes today." She stated excitedly. The two friends sat down on a park bench and reached into the bag. They each pulled out a burger and unwrapped it to reveal the burgers inside. The tantalizing appearance of the grilled patty, fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon made the girls' eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. Sid couldn't contain herself any longer and began to scarf down the sandwich like an animal. Ronnie Anne followed suit and took a big bite of her burger as well.

As she chewed, Ronnie Anne thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Her chewing slowed down as she made note of the mysterious shadow that darted around the trees. Nervous, she swallowed her food and tugged on Sid's shirt to get her attention. "Something's wrong." Ronnie Anne mentioned cautiously. Sid stopped chewing and left the entire park in silence. No sound was made except for the wind and the background noise of the city around them.

Just then, they heard something. "_Mrrrroooowwwww."_ Their blood ran ice cold as they recognized the warning sign.

"Sid, get ready to run." Ronnie Anne instructed as they got off the bench and started to walk away with their food. "Slowly. Don't provoke them." Ronnie Anne reminded as they slowly walked down the trail. From behind the trees, a couple of black cats emerged. They calmly and methodically stalked the girls like wild prey. "A little faster…" The girls increased their pace as more cats showed up. The crowd larger as more cats showed up. Some of them even dropping down from the tree branches above. "Faster…" Ronnie Anne and Sid speed walked passed the sandbox just as three cats burst from underneath with a ferocious hiss. "BOOK IT!" The girls ran as fast as they could as the street cats gave chase. The group merged into a giant wave of destruction as they grew closer to the pair.

They just managed to reach the park gate as a separate team of cats created a line and tripped the girls. They both fell on their stomachs and were immediately left at the mercy of the street cats. Both Ronnie Anne and Sid screamed as they were consumed by a tornado of dark fur and claws. When the malicious felines finally relented and left, the girls were left with cuts and scratches all over them. Their bags of food lay about them as torn scraps and measly crumbs. Ronnie Anne felt her eye twitch as she stared at the remains. "AAGGHHH! I. Hate. Cats! Every time I want to go outside, I have to check behind me every thirty seconds!" Ronnie Anne yelled in rage. "I mean seriously, Sid. Aren't cats just the worst?" Sid dusted herself off and rubbed her shoulder.

"Actually, cats are my favorite animal." She confessed. "I mean, those little jerks are something else. But every other cat I've ever been around was nothing but a sweet little ball of fluff." Sid then had a little flashback to her toddler years where she was cuddling with a young tiger cub her mother brought home when its leg was broken. Sid smiled warmly at the memory. "My first Halloween costume was even a cat." Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes, a little jealous of her friend's good fortune.

"Well I wish I had that kind of experience. Even before I moved here, cats did nothing but give me trouble." Ronnie Anne huffed. "I mean, sure they look cute. Until you get close to them, then it's all claws and biting." She complained. As the friends talked, a bug started to buzz around them. It slipped by Sid and landed on her shoulder.

"But cats are so amazing. Honestly, I kind of wonder what it would like to be one sometimes." Sid admitted. She was so caught up in the conversation that she barely acknowledged the pinch she felt at the base of her neck, simply opting to scratch the spot as the entity responsible flew away.

"Whatever. We may as well head back home now since those cats ate our food." Ronnie Anne groaned while Sid followed her.

"It wasn't a total let down. That was one of the best burgers I ever tasted." Sid reminded in an attempt to cheer her friend up. As they walked back home, the small bug flew off towards an alley with a black van parked in it. It went inside the window of the passenger seat and landed on a dark brown finger. The stranger looked at it and cackled.

"I can't believe it, my new Injector Drone, is a success." The man celebrated. Across from him in the driver's seat was his accomplice. They wore a midnight blue sweater, gray sweat pants, and a black beanie.

"So do we go and take that girl now?" He asked.

"No, we have to wait for the right moment. For now, let's just keep our distance and observe her behavior while the effects kick in." The mysterious stranger cackled. "I can barely contain myself."

…

Day soon turned to night and all seemed normal in the apartment building. "Good night, Mom. Good night, Dad." Sid called out to her parents as she went to her bed.

"Good night, sweet heart." They responded. With her parents' loving words still echoing in her mind, Sid climbed into her bed and closed her eyes. A few minutes passed as Sid lied down in her bed. Suddenly, she began to break into a cold sweat. Sid tossed and turned in her sleep while groaning in pain. Too deep in her dreams to be aware of what was going on, Sid could do nothing but moan quietly as something bizzare began to occur.

In the apartment below, Ronnie Anne yawned as she walked into her room dressed in her pajamas. "Man, today was crazy." She moaned as she fell into her bed.

"Bwark! Tell me about it…" Ronnie Anne looked over to see Sergio, the family parrot, fly into the room and land on Ronnie Anne's mini fridge. "I had a date with a pretty pigeon and those cats ruined it!" He complained. Ronnie Anne groaned in response.

"They ruined my day too. Why can't animal control do their job?"

"Preach it, toots." Sergio cheered. With a small grin, Ronnie Anne put her head on her pillow and started to drift to sleep. She began to snore as the minutes ticked by and she slept peacefully. Suddenly, Sergio were brought out of their slumber when they heard the sound of tapping on the window. Groggy, the bird looked over towards the window and squinted. His vision was blurry, but he managed to make out a large silhouette with pointy ears. Immediately, Sergio exploded into a panic. 'BWARK! Mayday! Their attacking again!"

The parrot's outburst shocked Ronnie Anne awake instantly. As Sergio flew out of the room, Ronnie Anne looked towards the window and glared at the cat like shadow. 'Those things won't even let me sleep now!?' She thought angrily. Ronnie Anne looked towards the trash can in her room and saw an empty soda can. Grabbing it, she opened the window and raised the can above her head. "Buzz off you furry freaks!" She shouted as she threw the can as hard as she could. It hit its mark perfectly and struck the figure in the head.

"OW! What was that for?" it asked in a familiar voice. Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow and hesitantly grabbed a flashlight. Turning it on, she was shocked to see what, or rather who, was at the window.

"S-Sid? Is that you?" She asked in disbelief. Sitting on the fire escape was indeed Sid, dressed in blue pajamas. However, she looked incredibly different than usual. Her hair was wilder and springing out in some areas. Her eyes had completely changed in color, with the sclera turning a light green and her iris and pupils turning black and diamond shaped. Whiskers were springing out below her nose on her upper lip, her nose even had a slight pink hue to it. Her ears became a little more triangular and seemed to have shifted their position higher up onto her head. But the most off putting of all was the addition of a long, slender, brown tail protruding from behind Sid. Ronnie Anne was in absolute shock at the sight of her friend. "What happened to you?"

"What does it look like? I've become part cat." Sid explained nonchalantly with a smile as she climbed through the window and into the room. "Look, I even have claws!" Sid raised a hand up and opened it, revealing a set of sharp claws protruding from her fingers. "Pretty cool, right?" Sid asked as she calmly raised her hand to her face and calmly began to lick the back of it with her eyes closed. Ronnie Anne could barely speak at the sight of her friend looking and acting so bizarre.

"Aren't you, I don't know, scared?" She asked. Sid opened one eye and looked at her best friend.

"Why should I be scared? None of this is really happening. It's all just a dream." Sid stated in a relaxed tone.

"A dream?" Ronnie Anne repeated quizzically.

"Of course. Earlier today I was talking to you, well the real you, about cats. Not to mention we were attacked by the alley cats. I even talked about how cool it would be to actually be a cat! By all means, it makes sense for it to have an impact on my dreams." She reasoned calmly. Ronnie Anne blinked in astonishment.

"Uh, Sid? I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but there is a slight hole in your theory." She stated in concern. "See if this were a dream, you would be sleep-"

"SHHH!" Sid silenced her friend as he ears and nose twitched. She sniffed the air and turned back towards the window. She climbed onto the fire escape and looked down towards the ground. Without saying a word, Ronnie Anne walked over towards her friend and joined them on the fire escape. Taking a glance at Sid, it appeared that she was in a sort of trance as she stared at something intensely. Ronnie Anne followed Sid's gaze to the ground and saw what was holding on to her attention.

A rat.

Nervous, Ronnie Anne looked at Sid and saw that she seemed to have a small amount of drool coming out of her mouth. "Sid. Don't even think about it." She sternly warned.

"My mind is telling me 'no.'." Sid squeaked.

"Good. Listen to your mind and just calm down."

"But my body…" Sid started to give a crazed smile. Her sharpened glistening in the moonlight. "My body is telling me 'YES!'!" Sid shouted excitedly. Her eyes widened and she let out a cat like screech as she leaped from the metal platform and pounced towards the rat. The rodent jumped in alarm and took off down the street. Sid started to giggle in an overenergetic manner as she pursued the rat on all fours. Ronnie Anne was left in disbelief over what just happened.

"Is it gone?" Ronnie Anne turned to see Sergio in the doorway. Looking back out the window, Ronnie Anne sighed.

"I have to go and find her before something bad happens." Ronnie Anne grabbed one of her hoodies from off the wall and slipped it on. "Hopefully I don't actually have to turn into Relay for this." Ronnie Anne looked down towards the ground and took a deep breath. In an instant, Ronnie Anne warped down to ground level and began to give search for her run away friend.

As the young tomboy ran down the street, Sergio yawned and closed the window. "Eh, she'll be fine."

* * *

**Well isn't this interesting? Ronnie Anne's best friend has become half cat, and Sid thinks it's all a dream. Hopefully Ronnie Anne can stop her before things get really bad.**

**Now, I bet you're wondering why I took such a feline route with Sid when she has displayed a talent for robotics and technology in "The two of clubs". Well, I have two reasons that give my choice some contextual merit.**

**A.) Her mother has a big career with animals, and Sid herself even gets involved with it often.**

**B.) Sid's personality... Honestly I just see a lot of cat-like elements to it. Look at the signs: She's playful, energetic, curious, and has a hilarious reputation for being easily distracted. Just like how cats get completely overwhelmed with a predatory urge when they see a laser pointer, and drop everything their doing to catch the dot.**

**I suppose this is a good spot to leave on for now. See you all later. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**YES! Finally, with the mystical power of will (AKA: getting off my butt and doing work) I have finished the episode. I sincerely hope what you are about to read was worth the wait.**

**See you all on the other side. I have some stuff to talk about there!**

* * *

Episode 2: Here, Siddy Siddy.

[PART 2]

Ronnie Anne rushed down the empty sidewalks as fast as she could. The street lights above illuminating the side walks as she searched for her friend. "Okay, don't panic. Sid couldn't have gotten too far." She reassured herself as she turned down an alley and walked over to a large dumpster. She opened it and peered inside, hoping to find Sid. Unfortunately, she was only greeted with trash and the putrid scent that accompanied it. Ronnie Anne gagged as it overwhelmed her nostrils. "Ugh. Sid, where are you?" She asked herself desperately.

As Ronnie Anne was searching, Sid was still chasing after the same rat from before. Still running on all fours like an animal. "Come here, you little squeaky stinker! I'm hungry." She hissed as she picked up her pace. The rat tried desperately to out run her, but it stumbled across a crumpled newspaper ball that was left on the street. The rat fell over and rolled across the ground due to its accident. Once he recovered from dizziness, he turned around and saw Sid looming over him. Sid's green eyes and sharp teeth inflicted a sense of terror on the poor rodent. "Don't worry little guy. I'll start at your head so you don't feel a thing." Sid raised up an arm and unfurled her claws, preparing to grab the creature.

However, before she could snatch her prey, a streak of black zipped by and tackled the rat. Surprised by the intrusion, Sid looked over to what got in the way. Before her was a black alley cat, holding the rat by its tail as it clawed desperately at the ground to escape. The cat had a smug grin on its face, as if it didn't even care about nourishment or survival. Sid narrowed her eyes. "Hey, I saw him first! Go find another rat." She yelled in annoyance. The cat looked up at her and snickered.

"Hey toots, the city is a cold place. It's first come first serve around these parts." It spoke in a slick and raspy tone of voice. Sid's hair stood up on end as she started to lose her patience.

"Don't 'toots' me! There's more than enough rats for everyone here!" She fumed. The cat stared at her and blinked in astonishment. He raised his paw up and the rat ran off without a second of hesitation.

"Did you just understand what I said?" The feline asked.

"Duh." Sid replied casually.

"But you're a human aren't you?" The cat glanced up and down, getting a better look at Sid. His eyes narrowing as he got a closer look at Sid's features. "Or is that not just some silly costume?" He asked quizzically.

"Oh, it's real. But this is a dream. So the term 'real' might be kind of subjective, you know?" Sid explained with a small chuckle. The cat stared at her from a moment before snickering. His chuckles started to grow more frequent and intense before he eventually broke into full on laughter. Sid, completely oblivious to the reasoning for the cat's outburst, began to laugh alongside him. "Yeah, it's kind of funny when you think about it. By dream logic this is real but…"

"A DREAM!? Hey fellas, get a load of this kid!" In response to the black cat's call, several other cats started to appear. They crawled out from the shadows and started to rally behind the leader. Sid backed away slightly as the mob began to grow larger and larger. "You think this is just a sweet little dream? Well news flash, lady! It's about to become a nightmare for you real soon." The cat taunted. The other cats laughed at Sid like she was a fool on a stage. The leader slowly walked towards Sid before making a fierce leap onto her chest, knocking her down. Sid bit her lip as the cat loomed over her face. "You know, peppy kids like you make my fur itch something nasty." The cat raised a paw and a single claw popped out like a switch blade. "Let's fix that shall we?"

Sid panicked as the cat reached down and drew the claw closer to her face. In a moment of desperation, Sid flailed her arm upward and scratched the leader's face with her claws. The cat screeched in pain and was launched off of Sid and down onto the ground. He got back up, holding his right eye in pain. "You…" It hissed as it lowered its paw to reveal its closed eye and a pair of fresh red scratch marks. Seeing the damage she inflicted, Sid felt her confidence rise and she smiled.

"What, want some more? Come at me, bro!" Sid taunted. The cats hissed and started to close in around Sid. A look of intense fury present in every single one of them. Sid remained undeterred as she crouched down, claws at the ready. Before the cats could start to attack, something caused them to stop and they quickly became frightened. The cats slowly backed away and let out scared and timid meows. Sid scoffed as the cats quickly took off running in the opposite direction. "That's right, run! I am the alpha cat! None shall challenge my reign!" Sid shouted excitedly while thrusting her arms into the air. Sid panted heavily as a shadow loomed over her.

Sid noticed the shadow and turned around, only to have a small cloud of greenish dust thrown into her face. "Ah! Hey what was… that… frrrr….?" Sid immediately felt calm and relaxed as a goofy grin appeared on her face. She looked up and saw a large and burly man in front of her.

"What do you know? Catnip actually works. And all this time I thought it was a sham." The thug mused. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt something brush against his legs. Looking down, the man saw Sid nuzzling against him and letting out a long purr. Her eyes opened revealing her pupils were now slightly dilated. Seeing Sid in such a state, the man couldn't help but feel something tug at his heart strings. "Aww." The thug reached down and gingerly scooped the girl into his arms. Sid didn't resist at all as she nuzzled against the large man's chin.

…

Elsewhere on the streets, Ronnie Anne was still searching for Sid. "I don't get it. I looked everywhere for her. The park, the back alleys, that one dumpster where the alley cats hoard fish bones. And there is still no sign of Sid." Ronnie Anne vented to herself. The tomboy soon stopped when she heard something from around the corner. Pausing, she put a hand to her ear and listened closer. Her pupils shrank as she realized what it was. "You have got to be kidding me." Immediately on cue, the alley cats dashed into view and barreled towards her like a tidal wave. Fearing the worst, Ronnie Anne braced herself for the felines' attack.

However, to her surprise, the cats all just ran past her. "Weird. It was almost like they were… _afraid_ of something." Ronnie Anne mused. "This is either really good or really, really bad." The child rounded the corner the cats came from and gasped in horror at the sight of a large thug in dark clothing carrying her friend in his arms. He walked over towards a large red van and placed Sid inside through the trunk door. Once the doors were closed, the man walked over towards the front of the vehicle and entered through the passenger door. The engine started, and in a matter of seconds, the van was on the move.

Ronnie Anne blinked and looked on in bewilderment. Slowly, she shifted her gaze towards the watch on her wrist. "Whoever that was, they are going to lose some teeth."

…

In the van, the man was looking back at Sid as they were sprawled on the floor of an oversized cat carrier. "Isn't she cute when she's asleep, boss?" He asked as he observed the cat girl shuffling about in her catnip induced slumber. His superior scoffed at the notion.

"I will admit that Subject Nine's current demeanor has a bit of an appeal." He confessed reluctantly. "Although I'm more excited over the prospect of her potential. She'll be the figure head of what can be achieved through science. And with proper mental conditioning, she'll make a great minion to boot." The driver noted.

"Oh, so we didn't do this to get a neat little half human, half cat pet for the office?" The van grew quiet as the minion's question just lingered in their minds.

"And people said I was weird." The leader grumbled. Suddenly, the van shook with a loud thud from behind. The driver checked the rearview mirror and saw Relay clinging to the van, trying to open the trunk doors. The driver squinted their eyes as they tried to get a better look at them. "Why does that girl look so familiar?" He asked himself. Sid opened her eyes and glanced up towards the window to see Relay struggle with the doors. Sid smiled and gave her a friendly wave. Relay saw it and grew more determined seeing how naïve her friend appeared.

"Don't worry, Sid. I'm getting you out of here!" Relay gripped the handle of the door and strained to open it. "Locked. Alright, there has to be another way to get her out." Relay made a fist and prepared to smash open the window on the door. Before she could throw her punch however, the van violently started to swerve from side to side in an attempt to shake her off. Relay clung on to the handle, desperately avoiding the outcome of being thrown off.

Inside the van, the passengers were being swung around by the momentum. Sid couldn't help but laugh with delight. Her brain was incapable of registering the danger of the situation due to the catnip still running through her system. However, Sid's cheerful outlook soon faded as she began to feel a strange sensation overwhelm her. Sid closed her eyes as the sensation started to morph into pain. "My head…" Sid groaned as the pain dragged her out of her delirious state. The sensation grew more intense and spread through her whole body, causing Sid to cry out in agony. The brute in the passenger seat heard Sid's moaning and turned around to see her roll around in her carrier.

"Boss, I think you're driving is making her upset."

"Just give Subject Nine more catnip, it will calm her down." The leader instructed. The brute nodded and opened the glove compartment. He pulled out a small bag of green powder.

"Alright little girl. This should help you calm down." The brute bent down and was about to give Sid another dose of catnip when the back window of the vehicle bust open. Relay flung herself through the newly made hole and glared up at the man. "Hey! What are you doing?" Relay grabbed the cat carrier and smirked.

"Sorry, but you might want to try your luck with a real cat." Relay taunted before vanishing with both the carrier and Sid inside of it. The man tugged at his collar and turned towards the driver.

"Uh, boss…"

"I saw that through the rearview mirror." The driver snarled. In a furious rage, he slammed the brake and the van came to a violent skid. When it finally came to a complete stop, the driver checked the rearview mirror and saw Relay sitting on the sidewalk with the carrier, trying to open it. "Curse that Relay. You and I are not leaving without Subject Nine!" He growled. The large lackey gulped as he got out of the car and started to run back towards Relay.

Meanwhile, Relay finally managed to open the cage. "Got it!" Relay celebrated as she peered inside and began to drag Sid out. As she was, she noticed something unexpected. "Wait, weren't you part cat?" Relay asked confused as she noticed all of Sid's feline features were gone, and she seemed to be fully human. Sid's eyes fluttered open again, the sclera now a normal white, and she looked upward at Relay. A state of confusion evident with her half conscious face. She didn't say anything as she lost consciousness and closed her eyes again. Relay wiped her forehead and sighed in relief seeing her friend okay.

"HEY!" Relay looked up to see the man that put Sid into the van. Her eyes narrowed in anger as he started walking towards her. "Listen kid, you better run off and forget you saw anything. Otherwise you're not going to be on the news for a good reason." The thug threatened as she reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. Relay was not amused and shook her head.

"You have got some serious…" She paused before she finished her statement. "Actually, no you don't." She quipped. The criminal looked rather confused with the heroine's statement.

"What are you…?" The criminal was cut-off was Relay teleported in front of him and kicked him in the crotch as hard as she could. The man whined in pain and dropped his gun onto the ground.

"Because their broken." She spat viciously. As Relay watched her opponent fall to the ground, she kicked the gun to the side and caused it to slide down a sewer drain in the side of the street. Satisfied with the disposal of the weapon, Relay vanished again before reappearing with a pair of handcuffs. As she put them on the criminal, their leader got out of the van and started walking over to them.

"That's enough, Relay. Subject Nine is mine!" They cried out as they pulled out a gun of their own. Relay mentally cringed in disgust at the way he spoke.

"Subject? This girl is not some subject. Just who do you think you are?" Relay questioned as she turned to face them. Relay's anger quickly turned to shock as she saw the culprit's face. Their dark skin, glasses, and neatly combed hair instantly brought back the unpleasant memories from the day she and her family received their powers. "Epimetheus?" She asked in horror.

"In the flesh." The mad scientist joked. Relay trembled as she was having trouble coming to terms with the psycho's return.

"But you're supposed to be in jail."

"Really? Well guess what? I. GOT. OUT! All thanks to someone who appreciates my work and ambitions." Relay still couldn't believe what was happening.

_'Not him. This has to be a nightmare. He can't seriously be out doing those twisted experiments again!'_ She mentally panicked. Epimetheus chuckled darkly.

"Of course, don't think I forgot about what happened last time. I owe you some well earned agony for you and your stunt and my old lab." He threatened. "But first, I must recover Subject Nine." Epimetheus' gaze drifted to Sid, and he paused in bewilderment when he saw her cat features were gone. "Wait a second. Why is she fully human again? The formula I slipped her was supposed to changer her DNA permanently. What went wrong?" Epimetheus growled before yelling in frustration and throwing his gun on the ground. As he did this, the sound of sirens was heard and blue and red lights began to flash in the distance. "Oh great, not the police too." The mad scientist groaned.

Reaching into his pocket again, Epimetheus pulled out what looked like a hand grenade. "Listen, Relay. Because Subject Nine appears to have reverted to such a… USELESS state, I'll let you have this victory." He spat. "But the next time I find someone to bring humanity prosperity, stay out of my way!" With that parting message, Epimetheus pulled the pin on his grenade, causing a heavy cloud of smoke to continuously spill from it. He checked it towards Relay as hard as he could, and the smoke immediately invaded her body. Not only was she coughing as the smoke flooded her face, but Sid also started to cough as well as she slept. Unable to see Epimetheus and not wanting to get Sid tangled up with the authorities, Relay simply teleported back to the apartment.

When she opened her eyes, Relay found herself in Sid's bedroom. She let out a heavy sigh as she hoisted Sid back into her bed and looked out the window. "How am I going to explain this to everyone?" She asked herself before vanishing back to her room. Mentally exhausted, Relay pressed a button on her watch, turned back into her normal clothes, and collapsed into her bed.

…

Sid was awoken by the electronic tones of her alarm clock. She got up and stretched with a long yawn. "Wow. That was the craziest dream I ever had. I can't wait to tell everyone about it." Sid felt her energy come to her as she leaped out of bed and walked over to her bedroom door. Yet, just before she walked out, something caught her attention. Her gaze was fixated on a desk mirror that just barely reflecting her within the glass. Sid walked closer to it, entranced by her eyes having diamond pupils and green sclera. Sid shut her eyes tightly and rubbed them with her hands. When she opened them again, her eyes seemed to be normal once again. Sid grinned and shrugged the abnormal occurrence off, blissfully unaware of the truth.

* * *

**So, I bet you're a little curious about that ending. Well for starters; Yes, that mirror scene was more than just for laughs. Sid may not have cat ears or a tail anymore, but everything else is still in there somewhere. And I want to have it come back in the future.**

**Also, expect a hiatus from full episodes from both this and The Sound Barrier for a few weeks. It's not that I am taking a break. It's the OPPOSITE actually. Something I wish to do as a little something for the holiday season.**

**Speaking of holidays, I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving. It wasn't the turkey that I enjoyed, it was the people I spent it with... (and the mashed potatoes). ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**What's up, everybody? Have good holidays? I know I did. Now before I give you part one of this new Guardians episode, I feel like I need to get something (besides my awful procrastination habits) off my chest.**

**Cassagrandes. Horror-Scope. That episode was the ultimate emotional roller coaster for me. When I read the description on the TV guide, I got nervous. When I saw Lincoln was actually in the episode as well, my brain just turned to mush! Honestly, I could just go on an online forum and talk about my feelings in detail, but I'll keep it simple and just say that the events there don't line up here, so it's not going to be canon.**

**But I'd be an absolute fool to ignore the potential it gives writers here. **

**Especially with a certain fortune teller... So let's get started. Along with the Guardians brand new them song! Courtesy of LoudTurtleFan. Now let's go!**

* * *

_They're five kids on a mission_  
_ With powers and determination_  
_ Standing on the edge of an endless game_  
_ Their chaotic lives will never be the same_  
_ In a dangerous world they do all they can_  
_ They're Guardians_  
_ Guardians_

_ The heart of their powers within them_  
_ No force will make them give in_  
_ When one's backed into a corner of_  
_ uncertainty_  
_ The rest will protect to the next degree_  
_ They are more than heroes, they're a family_  
_ They're Guardians_  
_ Guardians_

_ (Guitar solo plays as their names are called out and their hero names appear on screen)_  
_ Ronnie Anne! (Relay)_  
_ Bobby! (Glacier)_  
_ Carlota! (Glamor)_  
_ C.J.! (Captain Command)_  
_ Carl! (Supernova)_

_ They're Guardians_  
_ Guardians_  
_ Guardians_  
_ Guardians!_

...

Episode 3: Chaos in the cards.

[PART 1]

Ronnie Anne, Carlota, and their grandfather all sat together at the dinner table. Hector was reading a newspaper, Carlota was doing her nails, and Ronnie Anne was playing a game on her phone. They were brought out of their activities when they heard Rosa call from the kitchen. "Lunch is now served." She declared as she entered the room with a platter holding a stack of tamales. The scent of the food instantly made the family's appetite sky-rocket. Ronnie Anne in particular was excited to dig in.

"Those smell so good." She said while resisting the urge to drool. Grabbing one of the tamales off the plate, she unwrapped the corn husk and proceeded to take a big bite. As she chewed it, her eyes opened as something seemed rather peculiar about the taste didn't sit right with her. "Uh, Abuela is this a new recipe you're trying? It seems different from how you usually make them." She asked nervously. Curious about what Ronnie Anne meant, Carlota and Hector also took a tamale and tasted it. Their faces scrunched up upon tasting it.

"Yeah, it tastes kind of salty…" Carlota confessed sheepishly. Rosa raised an eyebrow and proceeded to try a tamale for herself. Her eyes widened in shock and embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I must have lost focus while I was listening to Ernesto." Rosa explained while she rubbed the back of her head. Ronnie Anne tilted her head to the side upon hearing the name.

"Uh, who is Ernesto?" She asked. Hector rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Ernesto Estrella is your abuela's favorite celebrity fortune teller. She can't get enough of that guy's horoscope readings." He explained, slightly annoyed. "I honestly think it's nothing more than a bunch of theatrics.

"Oh, yeah? Then how would you explain Ernestro predicting you facing fear on the same day you ripped your pants on karaoke night?" She asked with a cocky grin on her face. Hector's face turned red as his grandchildren snickered a little.

"T-that was just a coincidence. You can't prove he knew it would happen!" He said defensively. The denial caused Ronnie Anne to laugh a little harder.

"Timeless comedy aside, I'm with Abeulo on this one. Magic and seeing the future? Stuff like that sounds like either pure entertainment or a con artist." She reasoned. Rosa scoffed, her smile never fading.

"Magic and destiny are all too real, Mija. And both work in mysterious ways." She stated. Suddenly, Rosa's phone made a smile chime, which grabbed her attention. Looking at the screen, Rosa's face lit up in pure delight. "I can't believe it. Ernesto Estrella is doing a live show here at the performing arts center!?" The woman squealed excitement. "I've always wanted to see him in person." Hector groaned in response to his wife's giddiness.

"Are you actually going to go see him? You could get the same result from the TV."

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I refuse to waste it. Honestly, I don't think any of you should either." Rosa retorted. Carlota pursed her lips and looked up to the ceiling in thought.

"Well, I always was interested in what he would say about my future…" She confessed. Carlota then proceeded to elbow her little cousin in the arm playfully. "What do you say, Ronnie Anne? Want to see what the buzz is about?" Ronnie Anne thought about it and sighed.

"Alright, but I still think it's all just for show. How about you Abuelo?" Ronnie Anne asked as she and the girls walked towards the door.

"Actually I have plans already. But you girls have fun." Hector dismissed. As the trio walked out the door and closed it behind them. Carl, Bobby, and Sergio revealed themselves hiding behind it. Carl in particular was wearing a yellow, rimmed visor hat on his head. The young child then reached into his pockets, pulling out a bag of candy and a deck of playing cards. "Your Halloween stash? You seem awfully confidant this time." Hector teased.

"You're poker winning streak ends here, gramps." Carl vowed with a competitive look in his eyes.

…

When the family made it to the performing arts center, the audience was packed to the brim, with Ronnie Anne, Carlota, and Rosa in the middle. The theatre was dark due to the lack of active lights, but the deep red color was present on the stage curtains and seats. The constant chattering from the audience was not enough to drown out the squeaking of Rosa's seat due to her excited bouncing. "I still can't believe this is happening." Rosa squealed. Ronnie Anne put a hand on her grandmother's shoulder and tried to calm her down.

"Easy, Abuela. I've never seen you act like this before." Ronnie Anne stated as Rosa began to calm down. "I mean seriously, what makes Ernesto so special?" She asked. Before Rosa could reply, a pair of spotlights began to illuminate the stage, and the audience went silent. A voice began to boom from seemingly nowhere as the lights rotated in circles.

"For decades, people have always pondered a common question. That being: 'What does destiny have in store for me?' But now, that question now has an answer." The voice narrated. "I have looked to the stars for the answers the world seeks. And now, I shall give them to you." Just then, an explosion of purple smoke spread out through the stage. As it cleared, it revealed a Latino man with short blonde hair. He was wearing a decorative robe with primarily purple, pink, and gold coloring. He also had a lot of jewelry on him with glittering rings on his fingers. But by far the most eye catching part of his wardrobe was a large diamond at the chest that tied his robe around his neck. "I am: Ernesto Estrella!"

Upon hearing Ernesto's declaration, the entire crowd cheered in excitement. Except for Ronnie Anne and Carlota, who were rather surprised with Ernesto's appearance. "Huh, I didn't think he would look so flamboyant." Ronnie Anne remarked. Ernesto took a couple bows before raising his arms and silencing the audience.

"Now, let's see who's futures I will be able to help reveal today." Ernesto scanned the crowd and spotted a man in the front row. The diamond on his collar gave a faint cyan glow and Ernesto quickly approached him from the edge of the stage. "You sir! Tell me, do you work hard at your job?" He asked. The man in question stuttered before answering.

"Y-yeah! I always make sure to get all the company reports turned in on time. But my boss always ignores me and my co-workers get all the credit." He lamented. Ernesto nodded and hummed as he tossed some purple glitter into the air above him. It sparkled and made the shape of various constellations.

"Well, your future says you will be rewarded for your hard work." Ernesto leaned closer to the man and whispered into his ear. "Expect a raise next Thursday." The man grinned happily at the idea. Satisfied with the result, Ernesto scanned the crowd again and spotted a woman, the diamond began to glow again. "Madam, are you _expecting_ something in the near future?" He asked pointing to her. The lady nodded and rubbed her stomach.

"Yes. But it's very early. I haven't even started thinking of names yet."

"Well I suggest picking a favorite for a boy and for a girl." Ernesto advised, waving his hand and making the constellation of Gemini appear for a brief moment. "Especially since you're having twins." He informed the future mother. The woman covered her mouth with both hands and let out a squeal of joy. As Rosa clapped in amazement, Ronnie Anne couldn't help but roll her eyes. The entire show was basically the same thing over and over again. Ernesto spotted an audience member, revealed a problem they were facing, and then predicted their future. It was repeated constantly for about half an hour, each time making Ronnie Anne a little less interested.

"Yeesh, is he almost done?" She whispered to Carlota. The teen rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, it's cool and all. But he's not really doing a whole lot. I thought he would do some magic alongside the fortunes to jazz things up." She complained. Regardless of Carlota's lament, Rosa and the rest of the audience were still captivated by Ernesto's show. The eccentric fortune teller raised his arms up and silenced them all.

"Alright my friends. It is almost time for me to take my leave. But before I go, I would like to make an announcement." Ernesto revealed. "I want to try and spread my knowledge to others, so they may learn to read the future for themselves and others. In fact, I sense the perfect candidate for such wisdom in the audience right now!" The audience gasped and Rosa's eyes lit up at the idea.

"Oh, do you think he's talking about me?" The grandmother asked enthusiastically. Ronnie Anne shook her head sadly.

"Abuela, with all the people here, the odds of you getting picked are near impossible." She stated bluntly. As Ronnie Anne continued talking, Ernesto's diamond began to glow even brighter. "I mean, what are the chances that Ernesto is going to raffle off your seat number instead of any other?"

"Would Rosa Casagrande please stand up?" Ernesto called from the stage as a spotlight shined down on Rosa. As the rest of the audience cheered in excitement and clapped, Rosa and her grandchildren were in a stunned silence. Tears began to form in Rosa's eyes as she smiled.

"I can't believe it! Ernesto Estrella is going to teach me some of his secrets! This is too good to be true." Rosa celebrated before leaning towards Ronnie Anne and giving her a smug grin. Both Carlota and Ronnie Anne were still in a state of disbelief over what transpired.

"That was insane! He actually picked you out of everyone here."

"How did he even know your name?" As the crowd cheered and congratulated the family's good luck. Ernesto waved his hand and sent out a small cloud of blue smoke. It floated over towards Rosa and dropped a lanyard with a plastic gold colored card attached to it. On the card was the acronym 'V.I.P.'.

"That backstage pass will grant you access to my dressing room. See me there, and I shall teach you what I know." Ernesto instructed. "As for the rest of you, farewell! May the stars guide you towards good fortune!" Ernesto took one final bow and soon disappeared in a burst of smoke and glitter. The crowd cheered and clapped before beginning to shuffle out. Rosa stood up and let out a squeal of glee.

"Come on, what are we waiting for, mijas? This is going to be so amazing!" Rosa wrapped the lanyard around her neck and grabbed her grandchildren's arms. She soon began to pull them out through the aisles and towards a backstage door. However, they were stopped by some high pitched beeping. The group stopped and both Ronnie Anne and Carlota looked at their watches. "Is something wrong?" Rosa asked in a concern tone. Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Apparently Eco is back and turned the whole park into a death trap." Ronnie Anne explained. Carlota huffed, remembering when they first met Eco at the spa.

"Sorry, Abuela. We kind of need to take care of this." Rosa shook her head dismissively.

"Oh no, don't worry. I understand. You can't just have someone like her destroy everything." The grandmother leaned over and kissed both girls on their foreheads. "You run along and save the day. Just be careful." She pleaded. Carlota and Ronnie Anne gave determined smiles before turning around.

"Come on, Ronnie Anne. Let's take this weed out of the garden!" Carlota cheered as they ran out of the theater. Rosa smiled as she continued onward to the backstage door. A large man in a tuxedo and sunglasses held up a hand and stopped her. Rosa simply smiled and showed him her backstage pass. The security guard gave a small nod and stepped aside, letting Rosa pass through into the backstage halls. The red hallway was filled with various doors. Eventually, she reached one that had a gold star, engraved with the name 'Estrella', hanging on it. Rosa reached out and knocked on the door.

"Ernesto, it's me, Rosa. May I come in?"

"Of course my dear. Hurry inside." Ernesto responded. Rosa opened the door and walked into the room. What she was greeted with was a pretty standard site for a dressing room. Pink walls and red carpeting were the main décor. Ernesto was sitting in a chair off to the side, staring at his reflection in a mirror while caressing the diamond on his collar. "I've been waiting for you, Rosa." He greeted while turning around. Rosa felt butterflies in her stomach as her idol made eye contact with her.

"I. Uh, it's nice to. M-meet you." She stuttered. Ernesto chuckled.

"No need to feel anxious. New experiences are completely natural for any living thing." He reassured. Rosa felt a lump form in her throat, but she forced herself to swallow it.

"Yes, of course. So what is the first secret you want to teach me?" She asked excitedly. Ernesto gave a mischievous grin and turned so his back was facing Rosa.

"Well, my first little secret is that I do not simply '_read'_ the stars. I draw energy from them as well." Ernesto explained. Rosa nodded in understanding.

"Oh yeah. I believe you called that energy 'mana' right?"

"Indeed I do. But it's not just stars that have mana. All living things have it. The plants, the birds, and even people such as us." Ernesto snickered a little. "Not to brag, but I feel I have a lot more mana than people think. Alas, all things still have a limit. And stars and flowers only give so much." The magic astrologist lamented. "Fortunately, there is a source that can fill up a person's mana for years." Rosa raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

"Really? What is it?" She asked with an innocent smile. Ernesto chuckled even more and his diamond started to glow even brighter. Rosa's expression sank and she started to back away, feeling really insecure. Ernesto turned around, a malicious smile contorting his face.

"Why, a soul of course!" Ernesto answered as he started to laugh and float off the ground. The glow from his diamond turning from cyan into a dark purple. Rosa gasped in shock and ran towards the door. Unfortunately, the doorknob began to melt and turn into a pile of ooze. Rosa turned around, her back pressed against the door. As Ernesto drew closer, Rosa started to panic more and more as she saw his eyes seemingly turn a deep shade of red.

"No. Stay away! Get back you… you… DEMON!" Rosa pleaded. In a matter of seconds, three things filled the room. The purple light, Ernesto's laughter, and Rosa's horrified screams.

* * *

**And now, we officially have a villain that can use magic**

***yawn* It feels so good to finally get this episode started. Hopefully I can get the next part written sooner. Especially since I have a brilliant idea cooked up for the near future. Well, wish me luck in my endeavors. And stay tuned to see how our heroes get their grandmother out of this magical mess**


	6. Chapter 6

_BWARK! So this is 777's little space pocket? Eh, I've seen better. Is this on? SQUAWK! This is Sergio._

_777 doesn't seem to be home right now. So I think I'll do him a favor and put up the next episode. Pretty sure we left with Rosa getting caught in a trap by Ernesto Estrella. So let's see how Ronnie Anne and Carlota handle this... _

* * *

_They're five kids on a mission_  
_ With powers and determination_  
_ Standing on the edge of an endless game_  
_ Their chaotic lives will never be the same_  
_ In a dangerous world they do all they can_  
_ They're Guardians_  
_ Guardians_

_ The heart of their powers within them_  
_ No force will make them give in_  
_ When one's backed into a corner of_  
_ uncertainty_  
_ The rest will protect to the next degree_  
_ They are more than heroes, they're a family_  
_ They're Guardians_  
_ Guardians_

_ (Guitar solo plays as their names are called out and their hero names appear on screen)_  
_ Ronnie Anne! (Relay)_  
_ Bobby! (Glacier)_  
_ Carlota! (Glamor)_  
_ C.J.! (Captain Command)_  
_ Carl! (Supernova)_

_ They're Guardians_  
_ Guardians_  
_ Guardians_  
_ Guardians!_

...

Episode 3: Chaos in the cards.

[PART 2]

"I won't let this tyranny stand! Flora and fauna are meant to grow freely. Not in these confined spaces! I will see this society of pollution is completely destroyed!"

"Mam, are you aware of what the right to remain silent is?" A police officer asked rudely as he shoved Eco into the back of a cruiser. Once the super villain was in the back seat, sitting on her cuffed hands, the officer climbed into the driver's seat and looked out onto the sidewalk towards Relay and Glamour. Both super heroines were covered in leaves and twigs from the battle prior. "Thanks for helping us get her under control you two." The officer thanked. Relay gave a thumbs up while Glamour waved him off in a cute and bashful manner.

"Aww, we're just doing our best. You sure you can handle her?" Glamour asked slightly concerned. Relay looked at her cousin and shrugged.

"You'd be surprised how effective some of the police's power suppressing equipment can be." She remarked. The police officer tipped his hat to the pair of them and began to drive away, the cruiser's siren starting to fade out as the distance between them grew. Looking around for cover to turn back into their normal attire, Relay spotted a large bush and practically dragged Glamour into it with her. They ducked into it, and in a quick flash of light, their costumes were gone. "You know, that was actually a lot faster than I thought it was going to take." Ronnie Anne remarked.

"I know, we still have the whole afternoon to ourselves." Carlota added. "Hey, maybe we should call Abuela and see how her meeting with Estrella is going?" She suggested as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Carlota tapped away on the screen and put the phone on speaker. After a brief dial-tone, Rosa's voice came through.

"Hello?" Rosa asked.

"Hey Abuela, it's us. We took care of the problem a lot sooner than we thought." Ronnie Anne explained. "We were wondering how…"

"OH, GRACIAS A DIOS!" Rosa shouted suddenly, catching the girls by surprirse. The phone making a lot of crackling sounds as she yelled. "Listen, you two. Ernesto is…" *CRZT* The phone started to break up through a series of static noises. Ronnie Anne and Carlota exchanged nervous glances.

"Abuela, are you okay?"

"No! Ernesto…" *CRZT* "I…" *CRZT* "Trapped. Dark and cold…" *CRZT* "Be careful! They…" Rosa was unable to finish as the line went completely dead and the call dropped, leaving only a droning dial tone. Both girls stared at the phone in shock.

"That doesn't sound good." Ronnie Anne admittedly sheepishly. Carlota hung up the phone and took a deep breath as she put it away.

"Alright, let's stay calm. Our grandmother and her favorite celebrity fortune teller have been kidnapped. And we have no clue where they could be. It's no big deal." Carlota said in an increasingly hopeless attempt to not freak out. Ronnie Anne tapped her chin as her cousin's statement stuck with her.

"Well if we don't have a clue, then let's go look for some." She mused as she grabbed Carlota's arm. "Come on, let's get back to the performing arts center!" Ronnie Anne and Carlota soon found themselves running through the city, rushing past large crowds of people on the sidewalk. Eventually, they reached their destination, but stopped dead in their tracks by a large crowd surrounding the entire building. The mob was frantically cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Where is Ernesto?"

"Read my future!"

"MARRY ME, ESTRELLA!" The cousins groaned in frustration.

"Well, I think it's safe to say what happened to them. One of these fans was a little unhinged and couldn't wait for a second show." Ronnie Anne remarked. Carlota shifted her balance so she was standing on her toes so she could get a better view of the crowd ahead. At the very end of the crowd, there was a large team of security guards in black suits blocking off the perimeter.

"Well we may not be able to get inside as easily as the kidnapper did. They're blocking off every entrance." Carlota pointed out. Ronnie Anne looked upward and smirked as she started to form an idea.

"Not on the roof. Come on!" Ronnie Anne waved her arm over her shoulder, motioning for Carlota to follow. The duo went past the mob of crazed fans and went into a nearby alley. Ronnie Anne grabbed Carlota's hand and glanced up at the sky above the building. Closing her eyes, Ronnie Anne focused on the destination, and in a brief flash, both she and Carlota were on top of the performing arts center's roof.

"Nice thinking, Ronnie." Carlota praised her cousin. Behind Ronnie Anne, Carlota spotted a door leading down into the rest of the building. Walking over to the door, Carlota turned the handle and miraculously, the door opened. The stairwell in front of them was dark and poorly lit. "Come on, hopefully the kidnapper left something we can use to track them down." The cousins started running down the stairwell and deeper into the building. Eventually, they reached the bottom and found another door. Opening the door, they were greeted with a red hallway.

"I think we're backstage." Ronnie Anne noted. Carlota nodded and gave a small grin.

"Well, let's get looking." The cousins began walking down the hall, looking in every room they passed for any clues. As they searched, Carlota felt a little nervous. "Why are there no guards here? Was it really that bad outside?" She asked out loud. Ronnie Anne paused and soon found herself consumed by the thought.

"Yeah, you're right. In fact, do they even know what happened? Were they just outside the whole time?" Ronnie Anne wondered. Suddenly, she was pulled out of her pondering by a noise coming from somewhere nearby. "Hold on!"

"What?"

"I thought I heard something." Ronnie Anne explained. She raised a hand to her ear and began walking to the source. Ronnie Anne stopped in confusion when she realized the sound was coming from Ernesto's room. The cousins became silent as they listened closer.

"Ha ha. I still can't believe this worked. I'll be honest mi senora, I was afraid that this plan of mine was going to fall short." The girls gasped as they recognized the voice as Estrella himself. "Fortunately, those bodyguards are as easy to manipulate as the flock of sheep I call my fans. Hopefully you understand that magic and show business are both cut-throat worlds. Especially when mixed together." Estrella lamented before quickly laughing again "But seriously, the amount of stupidity that I've seen puts my magic to shame. The masses come to the show and give me a pick of the lot to choose from. Then I tell the guards a fake fortune and get them all out of earshot. Then, as the grand finale, I trap you inside my magic talisman for me to drain mana from you like a battery."

Ronnie Anne and Carlota both felt their anger boil over as they heard Estrella's gloating. They gave each other a quick nod and activated their watches and transformed. As they did, Estrella continued to brag. "Don't cry in there, Rosa. You should feel honored to be the first person to have their mana taken by me. If it makes you feel better, I could give you a few guests to keep you company." Suddenly, Estrella's door was kicked down. The astrologist turned to see Relay and Glamour standing in the doorway.

"Highly doubt it, Ernesto!" Relay spat venomously as she pounded her fists together. Estrella smirked before clapping in a menacing manner.

"Well, I will give you credit for finding out my little scheme. Though that doesn't mean I can be stopped now. Especially by some children who are in over their heads." Estrella taunted. Glamour rolled her eyes at Estrella's remark.

"You're the one over your head. There's two of us and one of you. Just come quietly and we can wrap this up without anyone getting hurt." Glamour demanded. Estrella laughed and raised a hand up.

"But you're missing one detail, senorita." Estrella's jewel once again started to glow. "I have magic on my side." Ernesto thrust his arm upward and a purple cloud swirled above him. From within the cloud, a large swarm of bees appeared and descended upon the heroines. They screamed and dropped to the floor, ducking under the insects as they buzzed past them and out the door. Relay growled and lunged for Estrella's feet, only to miss as he began to float in the air. "Ah ha ha! It's been so long since I've shown others the full extent of my power." Estrella laughed. "Honestly, I could just turn you into a pair of cucumbers for my next spa treatment, but I want to see just how far my new power extends."

Estrella's gaze shifted over to the vanity mirror and a mischievous smirk spread across his face. "Perhaps, I should take a moment to _reflect_ on my past choices." Estrella then flicked his finger and sent a small sparkle towards the mirror. As it made contact, the mirror began to shake, glow an ominous purple, and started to suck everything in like a vortex. Relay and Glamour tried their best to resist the pull of the object's newfound gravity but eventually, the wind around them swept them off their feet and pulled them into the mirror as they screamed and began spiraling through a strange tunnel of swirling colors.

Their screaming came to an end when they landed on a hard, rocky field. Relay groaned as she picked herself up. "That guy is so gonna get it." She moaned. Relay and Glamour took a moment to examine their surroundings. The ground was a cold blue stone and the sky around them was an eerie black. The only sources of light came from distant twinkling lights, almost like stars, as well as a giant pane of glass behind them.

"Wherever we are, that's where we came from." Glamour stated pointing to the glass. "But, where's Estrella?" As if he heard Glamour's question, Estrella let out a laugh that echoed around them and flew through the glass pane behind them.

"I'm right here, senorita. And we are inside my dressing room mirror." He stated proudly as he raised his arms to the sky. "Quite an impressive locale, eh?" Relay was reaching her limit with the sorcerer's constant taunting and growled. In a quick flash, she teleported in front of Estrella and tried to punch him in the face. As she swung, Estrella split apart into five copies. "Not so fast, little one." All five Estrella's spoke in unison. Chuckling as they all threw their arms upward and created a sparkling cloud of stars. "Your fortune doesn't look so good." The gem around his neck began to glow again as the stars fused together and gave off a bizarre, black glow.

The aura faded and revealed a figure wearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe. It let out a guttural growl and raised its weapon upward. Relay gasped teleported out of the way of the cold steel blade. She then reappeared behind it and gave a kick to the figure's head. It groaned angrily and tried to slash at her again, but Relay warped a few inches closer to the attacker's face. Unshaken by the skull staring her in the face, Relay tackled it to the ground and made it drop the scythe. As Relay and the reaper were wrestling, Estrella couldn't help but laugh.

"You shouldn't be so reckless as to fight against destiny." Glamour scowled upon hearing the mocking remark and started to conjure light in her hands.

"Call off your little friend, weirdo!" She shouted as she fired a couple of beams at Estrella and his copies. Two of them passed through the copies completely while the others missed. The attack succeeded in getting Estrella's attention as he and the clones turned around.

"Did you truly think you could beat me with something so pitiful?" Electricity gathered in the hands of one of the clones. It surged around him as violently as the necklaces of all the Estrella clones began to glow a bright yellow. "I'm truly SHOCKED!" The copy thrust his arms forward and a large blast of lightning flew out at Glamour. The teen was barely fast enough to create a wall of light to block the electric stream, groaning as she struggled to keep the barrier up.

As Relay continued with her battle against the reaper and pinned him to the floor, she glanced over to see how her cousin was doing. Examining the current situation, Relay couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. She squinted as she tried to put her finger on it. '_The way his necklace is glowing… Must be what's giving him his power. But there's something else.'_ Relay glanced at the floor as she tried to figure out what felt strange. As the lightning grew more intense, Glamour let out an angry yell and thrust her shield forward before firing more beams of light at Estrella's body doubles.

Her eyes widened as she saw what seemed wrong. On the floor beneath them, only one of the Estrella clones had a shadow. The rest had light simply pass through them. Relay couldn't help but smirk as an idea started to take shape in her head. Relay let out a sharp whistle. "Hey, wise guy! Your little friend was barely a warm up." Estrella scoffed at Relay's taunt as one of the clones casually created a large star, and casually threw it at Relay. The purple wearing child teleported out of the way and left the star to explode and destroy the reaper. Relay reappeared next to Glamour and laughed.

"You know, I think he's gone blind staring at all those stars for so long." Relay nudged Glamour in the arm as she fired a few more blasts of light at Estrella, the sorcerer not even caring and continuing to toy with them. "How about you give him a bit of a hand?" Glamour was momentarily puzzled with her cousin's request, but quickly figured out what she meant.

"Alright, I'll give him something that will really dazzle him." Glamour remarked. Taking a deep breath, Glamour closed her eyes and began to glow a very bright yellow. Light completely surrounding her whole body. Estrella looked at her and chuckled.

"You can make those little beams as strong as you want, but they don't hold a candle to the power I draw from the cosmos itself." Estrella bragged. As the light grew brighter and brighter, Relay closed her eyes as well and crossed her arms. Glamour groaned and seemed physically strained as she continued to build up energy. A vein becoming visible on her forehead, Estrella didn't think much of it and yawned. The astrologist looked at all of his clones and shrugged. "I'm getting kind of bored. You guys just want to wrap this up?" He asked.

"Agreed."

"Yeah."

"Terminarlo."

"Alright then, let's get rid of…" Estrella was cut off when Glamour suddenly let out a loud roar.

"RRRAAAAAAAAA!" As Glamour screamed, all the light around her erupted in a large, blinding blast. Estrella groaned as his vision was overcome with the piercing rays. Relay opened her eyes and looked down at the ground. She spotted the Estrella that casted a shadow and smirked as she teleported right behind in front of him Relay then wasted no time in grabbing onto his chest, ripping the gemstone off of him, and teleporting away again.

The blinding burst Glamour had created quickly began to fade and Glamour collapsed onto her knees, gasping for breath. Estrella and his clones growled in anger as their vision returned. "Are you proud of yourself, chica? You made me mad." All the Estrella's boomed as the thrust their arms forward. However, nothing happened. Every one of them paused and began looking around in confusion.

"Missing something?" Relay's voice rang out. Estrella gasped as he saw her holding the talisman in her hands. The sorcerer was quickly flooded with an immense sense of terror as he flew towards Relay in a desperate attempt to get back. Relay glanced down at the jewel and saw her grandmother fade into view inside, a relieved smile on her face. "Let me guess, break it?" Relay asked. Rosa nodded in confirmation as Relay lifted the jewel up above her head.

"NO! DON'T!"

Estrella's pleas fell on deaf ears as Relay threw the stone to the ground and shattered it into several tiny pieces. A wave of blue energy swept over the area as Estrella's clones vanished in clouds of smoke. In the center of broken crystal, Rosa stood unharmed. The woman slowly becoming more overjoyed as she came to terms with her regained freedom. Rosa turned to Relay and without saying a word, instantly wrapped her in a bear hug. "Thank you so much for saving me, pequeña." Rosa stated happily. Suddenly, the moment was broken when the world around them started to shake. Fearing the worst, everyone looked towards the pane of glass they entered from. Sure enough, the gate appeared to be closing.

"Less talking, more running." Relay barked out as she grabbed her grandmother's arm and rushed towards the pane of glass. Rosa felt something was amiss and came to a halt.

"Wait. Where is Glamour?" The pair looked behind them and saw Glamour trying to run towards them and the exit.

"Wait for me." She called out, clearly exhausted from her earlier gambit. Glamour was breathing heavily as she ran, but let out a shriek when she felt a hand grab her pony tail from behind. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an angry Estrella holding onto her. "What is your problem?"

"You and your little friend took both my power and my fame from me. That's my problem." He snarled. "No one crosses Ernesto Estrella and gets away with it. I swear, I will have my revenge! Your tears will flood the earth. Es tu…" Estrella was unable to finish as he was quickly struck in the face with a black shoe which rebounded off his face and into Rosa's hand. Relay and Glamour could only stare in awe as Estrella fell down in a daze and Rosa casually put the shoe back on her foot. The grandmother noticed her super hero grandchildren staring at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you waiting for? Vamanos!" Not needing another reminder, Glamour quickly ran over to the others and all three of them proceeded to jump through the portal back just as it closed. Upon crossing through to the other side, all three of them screamed and wiped out on the floor of the dressing room. Rosa held her head, in a slight daze from everything that transpired. "Are you two okay?" She asked concerned. In response, Glamour and Relay quickly hugged her from both sides.

"We should be the ones asking you that." Glamour asked jokingly. As the heroes embraced their grandmother, they heard the sound of tapping on glass. Turning towards the vanity mirror, they saw Estrella angrily pounding on the mirror from the inside. Glamour felt a little nervous with Estrella's enraged expression. "Should we be worried about him breaking out?" She asked. Relay waved her arm dismissively at the notion.

"Nah, I doubt he'll be getting out anytime soon." She stated confidently.

"What the heck is going on?" Everyone turned to see a security guard standing in the middle of the doorway, staring at them all in confusion. Glamour cleared her throat and began to speak.

"Sir, I promise that we can explain everything."

…

The family had soon made their return to the apartment, sitting on the outdoor steps. Rosa let out a sad sigh as she lamented about what happened. Ronnie Anne put a hand on her grandmother's shoulder. "I'm sorry that Ernesto turned out to be a Class A nut-job, Abuela." She apologized in an offer of sympathy.

"It's okay, novia. I'm just glad my phone was able to work inside his jewel. Otherwise, I don't think I ever would have seen you again." Rosa stated. "Besides, Ernesto wasn't the only person in the world to get a horoscope from. There are others." She reassured.

"Well, I'm just glad this whole mess is all over." Carlota exclaimed. "But there's still one thing I'm hung up on right now." She confessed as she tapped her chin.

"And what's that?"

"What are the police going to do with Estrella with him trapped in the mirror?" Upon hearing the question, Ronnie Anne and Rosa couldn't help but look upward and contemplate the thought as well. After a few seconds, Rosa simply shrugged.

"Well whatever it is, I'd say it's too good for him."

…

"This is an outrage!" Estrella cried out angrily. The vanity mirror that he was trapped in was suddenly covered in spit.

"Ah, shut up, fancy pants." A large felon in an orange outfit commanded as he wiped the tooth paste out from the corner of his mouth. Estrella groaned in anger as he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a prison guard from beyond a wall of bars.

"Do I have to be held prisoner in a manner like this?"

"Maybe we'll put you in the employee bathroom as a reward for good behavior." The guard reasoned, earning an upset sigh from Estrella.

* * *

_BWARK! Looks like Ernesto didn't see that coming. Heh, the Loud girl isn't the only one that can crack a joke._

_Hello, what's this... BWARK! This is Allanarcher777's story plans!_

_Well, a quick peak won't hurt... Oooo, seems he has a couple projects planned for February. One about The Sound Barrier and the other is some kind of one-shot._

_Yeesh, both of these have some romantic element to them. BWARK! I know it's the same month Valentine's day is on. But what is it with him and the concept of love?_

**Who are you to judge you little thief?**

_BWARK!_

**And the power of love is a beautiful thing! Who are you to judge what I write about? But more importantly, what sick satisfaction do you get violating other's privacy?**

_Uhh... ADIOS!_

**Oh no you don't, you dirty bird. GET BACK HERE!**


	7. Mini-chapter 1

**So... "Operation Dad" aired a few days ago. All I can say is that words do that episode no justice. I laughed, felt feels, and even found myself asking a few questtions! But right now, I'm here because of that ending.**

**That ending should be addressed here somewhere. I'm still working on my Febuary projects and have other things going on in my life. BUUUUUUUTTTT... I think I have time for a quickie.**

**Though, I must give a spoiler warning for those who haven't seen that episode yet.**

**This is your ONLY warning!**

**...**

**...**

**okay. Warning has been given. Let's go.**

* * *

Mini-sode 1: Catching up.

"There, that's the last of it." Arturo stated as he unpacked the last of his belongings. He dusted off his hands, satisfied with what he accomplished. He then turned towards the doorway and began to leave the little apartment. "I should probably go see how my son is doing. I've been so focused on Ronnie Anne this whole time, and Bobby always wanted to show me how he's been doing with The Mercado." He recalled as started to walk down the hall. However, he was stopped when he heard a voice call out from behind him.

"Arturo." Turning behind him, Arturo saw Maria and her mother, Rosa. Both looking at him with serious expressions.

"Maria." Was all he could manage with the awkward confrontation of his ex-wife and mother in law. Arturo rubbed the back of his head and cleared his throat before speaking again. "I can understand your skepticism of me staying here for a while."

"That's not what this is about." Maria stated bluntly. "We want to tell you something important. We figured you would find out eventually, but we wanted to wait until we could do it in person. So that you wouldn't be as stressed. And now that you're here, it would be best to just get to the point." She explained. Seeing they had Arturo's full attention, Maria inhaled deeply for a solid three seconds before she spoke quickly. "Our children are super heroes." She confessed in a quick blurt. Arturo simply stood in silence, trying to comprehend what Maria said.

"Super heroes? Like what you'd see in a comic book?" He asked in confusion. Rosa nodded in confirmation.

"It's not just them. Carlota and Carl have become heroes too. Even C.J. has been involved as their support. They've been going out stopping super villains and saving lives on a regular basis." She explained. Arturo was silent as he tried to make sense of everything. His face lit up as started to come to a conclusion.

"Oh, I get it. This is a game the kids are all playing with C.J.." Arturo reasoned in dismissal.

"No, it's all real. They all have super powers and costumes and everything." Rosa insisted. "I know it sounds absurd, but it's the truth." Arturo couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, I'll play along. Where are they? Maybe I can play as a hostage for a super villain." He suggested. Maria and Rosa glanced at each other and hesitated on what to say.

"Ronnie Anne is with C.J. in his room." Maria answered as the group started to walk to C.J.'s door. "But now is not the best time." She added as they reached C.J.'s bedroom door. Arturo gave a puzzled look as he gripped the doorknob and turned it.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked as he opened the door. Arturo's facial expression could only be convey pure shock as he saw C.J. frantically type away at a keyboard while Ronnie Anne, dressed as Relay, paced behind him nervously. Both looked incredibly tense as C.J. was working.

"Please tell me that virus is almost done, C.J.. If those turrets are still up when I appear, I'm going to get blasted when I try and help the others." Relay reminded her younger cousin.

"It's almost done." C.J. proclaimed as he typed a few more lines of code. Arturo could only watch in silence as his nephew typed away at frightening speeds. "It's done! Hurry, the others need you!" C.J. stated. With a quick nod, Relay then vanished without a trace, leaving her father with an open mouth stare. C.J. turned around and saw the adults standing in the doorway. A bright and proud smile crossed the boy's face. "Oh, hi everybody. I just hacked into a lot of death robots!"

Shortly after hearing what C.J. said, Arturo fell backward and lost consciousness. C.J. looked confused as Maria let out a sigh, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a pack of smelling salts. "Is Tio Arturo okay?" The child asked. Rosa sighed before responding.

"He'll be fine. He just needs time to adjust to the changes you and your famillia have gone through." Rosa reassured. Arturo opened his eyes as the smelling salts brought him back to conciousness.

"Do you think you can find Carlos?" He asked weakly while holding his head. "I want to know if there is a word that describes a mixture of both fear and pride."

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this.**

**As for me... It's back to work! See ya, soon. ;)**


	8. Mini-chapter 2

**Da-dee-doo-da. Ah, this is great. Just me and my personal space. Playing video games and writing stories. I don't think anything could ruin this for me right now...**

_*CRASH*_

**Me and my big fat mouth. **

_Sorry. I didn't know that was there. i just opened the door and..._

**Save it, Glacier. What are you doing here?**

_I just wanted to ask if you were going to put up something new soon._

**That all? Well you're in luck! Just finished up a mini-sode. May as well show ya since you're here. **

**Enjoy, everybody!**

* * *

Mini-sode 2: "Feline Fine"

Bobby whistled as as he wiped the dairy case glass with a wash cloth. When he was finished, his reflection shined brightly in the glass. "Perfect. Definitely got better results cleaning these from the outside." He bragged to himself. As Bobby admired his handiwork, he heard the bell ring as the Mercado door opened. Turning around, Bobby saw Sid walk into the store. "Hey, Sid."

"Hi, Bobby." Sid greeted as she draped an arm over the check out counter. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm in a hurry. I need some salmon." She ordered. Bobby chuckled a little bit as he went through the aisles to find what Sid requested.

"Your mom brought home a new friend from the zoo again?"

"Yeah. He's just the cutest little bear cup. And he just loves fish. Especially salmon." Sid explained as Bobby came back with a brown paper bag full of fish.

"Well I hope the little guy likes this. It's the freshest we've got in stock." He stated proudly gave the bag to Sid. The child smiled and happily gave Bobby a couple dollar bills to pay for her order. "See ya, Sid!" Bobby proclaimed as Sid waved goodbye and ran out the door. She re-entered the apartment and looked inside the bag to examine her haul while walking back upstairs to her family's apartment. Inside the bag, she saw all the fish with a very slick silver coloring over most of their scales. But their bellies were all a very bright pink.

"Oh yeah, he's definitely going to love these bad boys. Fresh from the market." Sid couldn't help but brag proudly. As she walked, her gaze was fixed on the salmon. Despite the lack of light in the bag, she couldn't help but notice a small shimmer on their scales. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip nervously. "Then again, how do I know these are that good? Poor cub could get sick if there is something wrong with them." She argued to herself.

Sid then looked up towards the ceiling and thought the situation for a moment. Then, she looked back into the bag at the fish. As she did, she felt her stomach growl, a small amount of drool formed in the corner of her mouth, and her nose lightly twitched.

"Hey, Sid."

"HUH WHA-!? Oh, hey Ronnie Anne." Sid greeted upon realizing it was her best friend. Though her attention was less on Ronnie Anne, and more on the new jewelry she had on her wrist. The colorful series of beads and the red heart dangling from it gave off such a sparkle that Sid acquired tunnel vision as she reached out to touch it.

"Are you okay?" Ronnie Anne questioned nervously, bringing Sid out of her trance.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. It's just, where did you get that?" Sid asked as she gestured to the bracelet.

"Oh, this? Lincoln made it for me." She explained. "For some reason, we were feeling a little mushy and made these for each other. I know looking back on it, it was super dorky. I swear, its like we became our older siblings for a bit and..." Ronnie Anne silenced herself when she heard the audible sound of chewing on something. She looked at Sid and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw her friend had taken a decently sized bite out of one of the salmon. "Why are you eating raw fish?"

Sid blinked and looked at the creature in her hand. She swallowed the salmon chunk still in her mouth and put the fish back in the bag. "I was just taste testing for a zoo friend my Mom brought home." She replied as if it were planned. "I think it checks out. I gotta go." Sid then quickly hurried up the stairs to her family's apartment, leaving Ronnie Anne alone in the stairwell. The tomboy then pulled her other wrist towards her face, tapped on the screen of her watch, and spoke into it.

"Note to self: Keep a closer eye on Sid. May still be part cat."

* * *

_Yeah... Sid, cat habits were a little surprising to me when I first saw them. _

**Surprising? That's a little more than just "surprising", Glacier. Especially when compared to other things that happen in your line of work.**

_Hey that reminds me. You gonna be adding more stuff to these archives? _

**Well I am trying to write that Dragon Ball CL story. But I'll try and pop in and add mini-sodes left and right. Maybe a big episode if I get the drive. But until then, just skipping to my own beat.**

_*BEEP! BEEP!*_

**That your watch?**

_OH MAN! Epimetheus got some freaky creation running loose in town! Sorry, 777! I gotta go!_

**I didn't invite you, but whatever!**


	9. Chapter 7

**Hey everybody! Been a while since I updated this story, huh? Well I think it's time I fix that. Wouldn't you agree, Carlota? **

_I'll say. You've been writing about all these alternate timelines and left me and my family on the sidelines._

**Hey, it's not my fault I have more than one story I want to share. Besides the guys at Nick have been doing a good job with your civilian shenanigans. Speaking of which, tell that parrot of yours we are no longer on speaking terms. If he ever shows up here again, he's going in my oven.**

_A bit harsh, don't you think?_

**I HEARD THAT CHICKEN'S FLAT-LINE!**

_Okay, okay. Point made. So, what adventure are you telling everyone about this time?_

**The one with THOSE three...**

_... Oh. Yeah, that is one worth telling._

* * *

They're five kids on a mission  
With powers and determination  
Standing on the edge of an endless game  
Their chaotic lives will never be the same  
In a dangerous world they do all they can  
They're Guardians  
Guardians

The heart of their powers within them  
No force will make them give in  
When one's backed into a corner of  
uncertainty  
The rest will protect to the next degree  
They are more than heroes, they're a family  
They're Guardians  
Guardians

(Guitar solo plays as their names are called out and their hero names appear on screen)  
Ronnie Anne! (Relay)  
Bobby! (Glacier)  
Carlota! (Glamor)  
C.J.! (Captain Command)  
Carl! (Supernova)

They're Guardians  
Guardians  
Guardians  
Guardians!

Chapter 4: Hard times ahead

[PART 1]

The sky above Great Lakes City was a beautiful display of stars in the night. All was calm and quiet throughout the streets save for a few passing cars and the occasional rat crawling in and out of the sewers. But this peace would be disturbed as Epimetheus emerged from the darkness of an alleyway. He looked in both directions to see if any witnesses were around. When he saw nothing, he turned to face behind him, gesturing with his hand for someone to follow. A pair of goons came out from even darker corners of the alley as they were lugging various large containers on platform dollies. "Come on, you dolts. We need to get these materials back to my lab before morning!" He commanded. The minions groaned as they pushed the hand carts forward.

"Sir, what do we need this all for again?" One of them asked. Epimetheus stopped walking and craned his head back towards his subordinate. Without saying a word, he calmly walked over to the lackey and slapped him as hard as he could across the face. Both minions were completely silenced by the sudden display of abuse. Epimetheus crossed his arms and scoffed as he looked down upon the man's face as they rubbed their sore cheek. A bright red hand print was already starting to form.

"If you had remembered my little briefing, then you would know this is for my latest project." Epimetheus began to lecture as they walked with their minions down the streets. "Now get the lead out. We are burning moonlight." The minions rolled their eyes and simply decided to follow their boss back to their hideout. Not really in the mood to deal with his anger and ranting.

But as they left the alleyway, the wind started to pick up. At first, it was a gentle breeze that lifted a few paper scraps off the ground. However, it kept becoming more and more intense. Eventually reaching a speed similar to that of a hurricane. The winds picked up trash and dirt and formed a large doughnut shaped cloud a few feet above the ground. A small, glistening, cyan light formed in the eye of the storm and began to spread out to encompass the cyclone entirely. The light stretched itself thin and took a complex design of the face of a Roman Numeral clock, complete with hands that begun to spin wildly around. A minute passed as this small storm began to interfere with the electric workings of a nearby streetlight. The symbols clock hands began to spin and rotate around the circumference of the clock's face. Slowly at first, but becoming progressively faster and faster until eventually it disappeared in one large flash that stirred up a lot of dust and trash.

As the dust settled and the light faded, three mysterious figures took its place. Their appearance was hidden by ragged brown cloaks, and their heights were all around that of a preteen child. One of the strangers reached into their pocket and pulled out a pocket watch that was a shiny blue cobalt color. He flipped it open to reveal the inside, which seemed to be intact at first glance. But the stranger lifted to their ear and listened closely. "Yup, I was afraid of this. Its power is fading." He confessed in a very young male voice.

"So that's it? One round trip?" A second one asked. Their voice indicated was they were a girl. "You have to be joking. There has to be some way to recharge it or something."

"That doesn't matter right now." The third one barked out. They sounded like another boy, but their voice sounded colder and sterner. "All that matters is our mission and seeing it through no matter what. And I refuse to be met with failure of any kind." He lectured. The serious member of the group was met with silence as the others stared at him. Then, the girl couldn't help but giggle a little before bursting into hysterics alongside the other boy. "What are you laughing at?"

"Dude, you really need to tone down the edge lord routine." The boy chuckled. The supposed leader flinched and clenched their fists tightly.

"I am not an edge lord. I am just cool. There is a very clear difference." He reiterated as his friends continued to laugh.

"Read the signs. You're constantly brooding. You always try and take charge and play 'the lone wolf' when you are alone."

"And that is on top of the fact you always like wearing black and red. Classic edge lord colors." The others teased. With one final groan, the now freshly branded edge lord turned away and crossed their arms.

"Let's just get a move on. You have the address for the apartment, right?" In response to the question, the other boy dug around in his pocket, pulled out a slip of paper, and waved it in the air. "And the note?" The girl then pulled out another piece of paper. "Hmph. Let's get going." The moody boy huffed as they pulled their cloak up and revealed a belt of various items and weapons. They picked out a grappling hook from their vast collection, fired it at the edge of a rooftop, and were quickly pulled up. The other boy created a pulse around themselves that sent a gust of air circulating around them and making their body glow a faint green before they floated upward. Leaving the girl by herself.

She sighed, while looking at the ground. Then quickly shook her head and snapped herself out of her hesitant demeanor. "No, you came to far just to fail." Reaffirming her resolve, she jumped up a short distance and created a foot hold of purple energy below their feet. They jumped off of it and continued to make more footholds to boost themselves up to the roof, and followed the others.

…

The following morning, Ronnie Anne was sitting in the living room of her apartment watching TV with Carl. The show on the television was a reality TV talent show, with the contestant on screen being a very skilled acrobat who was wowing the judges with his skills and gymnastics. Carl didn't seem that interested in the performance though. "You know, stuff like that isn't all that special to watch when you've been fighting monsters and super villains on a regular basis." He commented as the acrobat did a handstand. "I mean look at that. I can do that, watch!" Carl then started to get on all fours and prop himself up into a headstand. Unfortunately, he lost his balance and fell on his back. "Just warming up." He quickly announced to his cousin, who softly chuckled as Carl tried again. Carl then proceeded to lose his balance again, but this time it was aided by the shock of hearing a baby's cries of distress.

"Carlitos, no!"

"This is too dangerous for you, mijo." The voices of Frida and Rosa were heard amongst Carlitos' crying and whining. As they entered the room, Carlitos was seen cradled in his mother's arms as he reached for his grandmother. Or more specifically, the wishbone that was in her hands. "Lo siento, Frida. I thought I had my chest locked up tightly since last time." Rosa apologized as Carlito's cried even louder. Ronnie Anne covered her ears to protect herself from the noise.

"What is he crying about now?" She asked. Frida let out a long sigh.

"Carlitos always likes digging around in Abuela's chest of magic trinkets. No matter what we do to keep him away, he always just finds his way inside of it again." Frida sighed as she carried the squirming toddler towards the fridge to get him a bottle of milk. "I can't afford to keep him out of our sight for more than a minute." She grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator and put it into Carlitos' mouth, calming the baby down as they sucked the beverage out of the bottle. Rosa nodded solemnly in response to her daughter in-law's plight.

"If only he was just a little older, I'd be more than happy to show him and teach Carlitos about all my charms, potions, and more. But the last thing I want is him choking or growing extra hair like a chupecabre." The grandmother confessed with a hint of sadness in her voice. Ronnie Anne looked rather crestfallen as she pat her grandmother's back in an attempt to comfort her. Frida sighed and started to walk towards the main door to the apartment.

"I think I'll go put him down for a nap." She stated as she opened the door with her eyes to the floor. But she stopped when she saw a small white envelope on the ground. Curious, she bent down to pick it up while Carlitos was still in one of her arms. Frida turned the envelope around and saw it had Ronnie Anne's name on the back in black ink. She raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, but still turned back to face her niece. "Oh, Ronnie Anne, someone left you a letter." Frida stated simply as she handed her the envelope and once again walked off with Carlitos in tow. Ronnie Anne didn't think much of it as she had a rather unenthused look while opening the letter. Rosa on the other hand was rather intrigued by it as she looked over her granddaughter's shoulder.

"Who is it from, Mija?"

"I don't know. The envelope didn't say." Ronnie Anne answered as she pulled out the paper inside the envelope and unfolded it. On the paper was five words written in red ink. When Ronnie Anne read them, her blood went as cold as ice. Her pupils shrank and darted towards Carl, still struggling to try do a handstand. "Carl. Please tell me THIS is your dumb idea of a joke!" She barked out while pointing to the paper.

"What are you talking about?" Carl asked as he failed to do a handstand again and fell onto his back. He rubbed his head and tilted it up slightly, allowing himself to see the same five words Ronnie Anne read.

'I KNOW YOUR SECRET, RELAY!'

…

In less than a minute, the entire family was gathered in the living area. In a state of utter panic when Ronnie Anne brought them up to speed. But out of everyone, Bobby was by far the one who lost the most composure. "So if someone knows you're Relay, does that mean they know who the rest of us are too?" He asked nervously. Carlos tugged at the collar of his sweater vest.

"That would be a very likely conclusion. But maybe they only got Ronnie Anne's identity." He tried his best to reassure his nephew as Bobby pulled a paper bag from seemingly nowhere and started to hyperventilate. Sergio squawked out and flew off into the kitchen. The sound of the parrot rummaging through the cabinets was heard until he came back wearing a fedora, glasses, a scarf, and carrying a brief case.

"I know a guy that makes good fake passports." The remark caused CJ to break into a nervous sweat and bite his lower lip.

"We have to move?"

"More than just move, hermano." Carl interjected. "We have to fake our deaths. I'm talking burning the whole apartment down and going off the grid." Rosa took off one of her chanclas and brandished it in front of her grandson in a threatening manner. "Relax, Abuela. I was only kidding." Carl chuckled nervously as Rosa put the shoe back on her foot. Maria looked at Ronnie Anne, who was rather shaken up and losing her usually cool and collected demeanor.

"How did this happen, Ronnie Anne? Don't you always change into costume in a safe place?"

"I always do that, Mom. At least, I thought I was always in a safe spot. But someone saw me change somehow."

"Well we better find out soon who it is soon. Because I don't think I can handle paparazzi, super villains, and the like stalking me." Carlota chimed in while crossing her arms in a huff and rolling her eyes. Then, the musical chimes of a ringtone echoed through the room, silencing everyone. Carlos also felt a vibration in his pocket and deduced that it was coming from his phone. Pulling it out, he looked at the caller ID and saw that it was listed as an unknown number. He tapped the answer button on the screen and put it to his ear.

"Hello?" The room was silent, save for Lalo's scared whimpering over the suspense of the moment. Carlos swallowed a lump in his throat nervously. "Alright, I'll put you on speaker." Carlos did as he was told and then held the phone out to the rest of the family. A voice quickly came through and boomed throughout the apartment. It was deep yet artificial, most likely due to the use of a voice changer.

"I'm assuming Ronnie Anne told you about my little message." The family gasped in shock over the sudden appearance. Hector in particular aggressively lunged for the phone and pointed at it as if it were an actual person rather than just an object.

"Listen here you matón, my granddaughter is not that super hero girl. So I suggest you leave my family alone before I call the police." He threatened. His outburst merely invoked the chuckling from the mysterious caller.

"I never said that she was, Mr. Casagrande." They countered. Just like that, Hector fell silent, feeling absolutely humiliated over walking into such a simple trap. Feeling satisfied, the caller continued. "Now of course, that isn't all I know about you. I have much more information that could lead to some disastrous scenarios if in the wrong hands. Of course, I might not be inclined to leak my evidence out if you are willing to play along." The stranger's words stung and burned everyone like they were acid. Though, Ronnie Anne was being affected the most due to being the one targeted by the letter. She stepped closer to her tio's phone, her anger fueling her as she glared at the phone's screen.

"What do you want from us?" She asked with no attempt to hide her disgust.

"Simple. I want to meet you and your team in person, C.J. included." They requested in an unsettlingly casual tone. C.J. couldn't help but squirm and fidget in his seat on the couch when the caller mentioned him. He loved helping his family with missions over a computer screen. But with no powers of his own, against an enemy that knew who he was? It certainly made him anxious. "And in case you have any objections, you might want to consider what my guest has to say." The caller paused and the sound of their footsteps echoed through the phone. "Well, want to say something?" Everyone felt their stomachs tie up in knots as they listened closely to the phone.

Then, a new voice answered the call. A voice everyone recognized. "Threatening me is one thing. But my family? You disgust me."

"DAD!?"

"ARTURO!?" Arturo heard the cries of the family through the phone and immediately started to try and speak to them.

"Ronalda? Roberto? Don't let yourselves or your primos be intimidated by this slimy little- MPHH" Arturo's attempt at encouraging the family of heroes was cut short as the sound of something smothering his mouth took over. The caller chuckled to himself in satisfaction.

"We can meet at his apartment." He clarified. "You have one hour to show up. Come alone. No police or anyone else. And don't even think about using those little cameras that C.J. likes to help with. If you do try, I'll know. Don't worry about someone else getting involved, either. I've made sure that this little meeting is just between us." With that chilling threat, the phone call ended with a click and a short dial tone. After it faded, the apartment was left silent as the tension persisted, hanging heavily in the air. A few seconds passed until Ronnie Anne took a deep breath and started to walk to the door.

"Where are you going?" Hector asked his granddaughter. Ronnie Anne turned back towards her family, determination clearly present in her eyes.

"I'm going to help Dad." She answered bluntly. "If this guy wants to meet me, I'll make sure to give him something to remember me by." Ronnie Anne followed her statement with a raised fist as she opened the door with her other hand. "Are you guys coming with?" She asked her brother and cousins. The group hesitated for a moment before Bobby took a deep breath and walked towards his little sister.

"You don't have to ask me twice." He replied. One by one, the other super siblings went to Ronnie Anne's side.

"Like we would leave you hanging."

"This creep is so in for it."

"For Tio Arturo!" The team of five took one last look at their family and pets. Before any of the super team could say anything, the entire family wrapped them all into an insanely large group hug. The shock subsided rather quickly and they returned the gesture to them all.

"Junior, stay close to everyone and don't do anything reckless." Carlos advised his first born son.

"Keep your little brothers safe, Carlota." Frida insisted while hugging Carlota tightly in her arms. Maria leaned in closely to her children's ears.

"Be careful." With those final words, the hug ended and the young heroes left the apartment and closed the door behind them. Rosa grumbled to herself and began shuffling out of the group.

"I better go light my special candle. My grandbabies will need all the help they can get." She sighed as everyone went their separate ways, still racked with concern over their children's well being. Eventually, the rest of The Casagrandes left the living area, only Sergio was left in the room. Seeing he was alone, the parrot flew over to a landline phone on the wall, picked up the phone in his claws, and began dialing a number on the key pad with his beak. When he finished, he landed and laid the phone upright on the floor. It made a small click as the number he dialed picked up.

"Sancho, it's me. Remember when I took care of that 'fly on the wall'? I'm calling in that favor you owe me."

…

After a couple of minutes of navigating the city while trying to keep a low profile, Ronnie Anne and her family eventually made it to her father's apartment building. They stood at the front door of the blue building and Ronnie Anne took a deep breath. "Alright. We don't know what to expect. C.J., stay back and don't do anything reckless." She instructed.

"Got it, Ronnie Anne." The middle cousin replied with a thumbs-up. The rest of her cousins and her brother all gave Ronnie Anne a firm nod in silent agreement. Ronnie Anne turned to the building, reaching out for the door knob. When she turned it and opened the door, they were quickly greeted with the sight of Arturo tied up on his living room couch and gagged with some sort of multi-colored object in his mouth. "TIO!"

"DAD!" All five of them rushed to the man's aid and quickly untied him. "Are you okay?" Ronnie Anne asked desperately. Once Arturo was free, Bobby then took the item out of his father's mouth. The doctor began to take some deep and exasperated breaths. Bobby was about to say something, but stopped to take a moment to examine it when he noticed the weird textures the makeshift muzzle.

"Wait, is this a sandwich?" Bobby asked in bewilderment. Arturo rubbed got to his feet and stretch, causing some of his bones to crack.

"Before they called you with that threat, they started raiding my fridge." Arturo explained. On cue, the family heard the sound of footsteps coming from another room. Instantly, they all turned in the direction of the noise, with most of the kids making fists and getting into a fighting stance. Another door opened and they saw a figure that was around Ronnie Anne's height enter the room. He had fair skin and was dressed in a black long sleeve shirt with a red broken heart on the front. The heart also had a few lines sticking out of it, causing it to resemble a bug of sorts as the lines looked like legs and antennae. They also wore a crimson belt with various gadgets and weapons adorning it and black pants with red markings running down the legs. The upper half of his face was covered with a Victorian era style mask that was red on the left side and black on the other. His hair was a very deep shade of black.

"Well, glad you showed up so soon." He stated in a very blunt and serious manner. Though everyone aside from Arturo and Carl were confused about how the intruder's voice was still very youthful. "It's quite an honor to meet all of you in person." Carl took a step forward in defiance and fire started to engulf his hands.

"Well tough luck for you. Because it's going to turn into a nightmare!" In a furious roar, Carl thrust one arm forward and shot a stream of fire at the assailant. Unfortunately, the tween seemed unamused as they ducked below the column of flame and rushed towards Carl. The fire struck the wall and left behind a few small embers and a large pile of soot. "Uh, oops." Carl whimpered in embarrassment. While he was distracted looking at the lingering flames, his opponent managed to get close enough and grabbed Carl's wrists. Then they quickly spun him around and pinned his arms their back. "Ack, HEY!"

"If you would give me a moment to… OOF!" The attacker was cut off when Carlota lunged forward and punched him in the face.

"No one picks on my little brother but me!" The teenager then shot a beam of light at her brother's assailant, but was confused when a mirror spontaneously appeared right in front of them "What the heck?" Carlota began to rush over and confront the tween up close, but was stopped by a force field that closed in around her and her family. Bobby glanced around and tried shooting icicles to pierce through it. Unfortunately, they all shattered upon impact with the wall of energy.

"I think it would be in your best interest not to try and escalate this conflict any further." The mysterious intruder warned. Ronnie Anne furrowed her brow in both anger and disbelief.

"Don't escalate?" Ronnie Anne disappeared in a quick flash and reappeared in front of the other kid before reeling back with a punch. Her opponent caught it and the two began to exchange a series of attacks between each other. "You're trying to act like this lawful cop after kidnapping my dad in his own apartment?" As Ronnie Anne lectured them, her enemy discreetly pulled out a red and black taser that crackled with electricity at the end of it. Arturo gasped in horror at the sight of it.

"Ronalda, watch out!" His shout alerted Ronnie Anne to the threat just in time as she grabbed her opponent's arm with one hand and punched him square in the face with the other. Sending out the rather graphic sound of the fist colliding with their face with a rather prominent and echoing crunch. The assailant was effectively dazed from the strike and Ronnie Anne grabbed him and held him up by the collar of his shirt.

"Just who do you think you are!?"

"Who I am is someone who wants to help you!" He responded. Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying the boy's answer at all. But just as she opened her mouth to respond, the sound of another new voice cried out from nearby.

"AHHHHH!" The voice sounded young, feminine, and very shrill. As it cried out, the barrier containing Ronnie Anne's family disappeared. C.J. then glanced over at a nearby window as he heard the cries from that direction. He glanced outside and almost couldn't believe what he saw. Just outside the window was two more tweens being attacked by a swarm of pigeons. One was a girl with fair skin in a lavender one piece suit that had a flower inside of a shield on the front of it. They also had a matching mask around their eyes and platinum blonde hair. They cowering on the ground with a force field around them as the gray birds tried to peck at her from the other side of her shield.

The other was a boy with a tan complexion wearing a two piece costume. The shirt was a dark black shirt with a white star on it. His pants were also a very bright white. They also had mask was a simply black in color. And he possessed a red hooded cloak that was wrapped around his neck and covering the top of his head. The pigeons were flying around him with hit and run strategy pecks. One of them even tried to poop on his head, but missed. Regardless of the attempts the birds made, the bot didn't give in as he attempted to blast them with what seemed to be magic of some sort. Bizarre and intricate symbols hovered just over the palms of his hands as he shot blue fire balls from them that left a sparkling trail. "Just relax, Safeguard. They're only birds." He said in an attempt to calm his ally and reinvigorate them.

"Easy for you to say. You don't know the pure evil they are capable of!" The girl, now identified as Safeguard, countered as they continued to panic. C.J. watched the whole display from the window and began connecting the dots between the intruder that was threatening his family and the seemingly random victims of the pigeon mob.

"Guys? I don't think this mean kid is alone." C.J. reasoned, grabbing everyone's attention. The kid that Ronnie Anne had pinned flinched upon hearing the information. In an extraordinary display of athleticism, the intruder jumped up and drop kicked Ronnie Anne and sent her stumbling backward into the arms of her brother and older cousin. The young tomboy groaned as her father practically jumped off the couch and his fatherly instincts took over.

"Ronnie Anne, sweetie. Are you alright?" He asked, only getting another groan as a response from his daughter. He turned to Ronnie Anne's attacker with a look of pure hatred and disgust. "That was the last straw. You, you little duendecillo, are…"

*SMASH*

Before Arturo could finish and start to retalitate, the culprit made a sporadic jump out of the window. The glass falling to the ground with him as he landed with a roll and began running to his accomplices. The Santiagos and Casagrandes couldn't think of doing anything but watch as the child ran out and pulled a handgun from his belt. He took aim at the pigeons and began firing. The bullets wizzed by them and missed all the birds, but was still effective in sending them into a retreat of panicked coos. "Beat it, you animals! These bullets aren't rubber!" He shouted as the pigeons flew off into the sky. Safeguard, still shaking on the ground, opened one of her eyes and looked around her.

"Are they gone?" She asked timidly as the force field around her faded. The duo's savior was visibly upset with what happened to his colleagues.

"What did you do to tick those things off?" The tan boy groaned and smacked his forehead.

"Sergio! I completely forgot that all his pigeon buddies owed him for the 'incident'." He recalled as he used air quotes for the last word. Safeguard shuddered, still in a state of unease over the unforeseen event.

"Look, let's just go and talk to them before those demon birds come back." She hastily pleaded as she began to run over to the apartment building. Though she didn't get far as she soon slipped on the ground and landed on the ground back first. Groaning, Safeguard looked at the ground and saw it was covered with ice. The chilly material began to make cracking sounds and shoot up around her body, causing her to scream from both the shock of the situation and the cool temperature she was being subjected to. Her friends were about to rush over and help, but they were also quickly being encased by the ice. In a matter of seconds, they were all trapped in full body shells that covered them from the neck down.

Looking up, the group saw the Santiagos and Casagrandes staring at them all with triumphant looks. Bobby in particular was crouching down with his hands touching the ground and giving off a pale mist. "Huh, this went a lot better than I thought." He chuckled happily. As his three captives struggled to move in any sort of capacity, Carl got a smug grin and began to walk over to them slowly. Both as a means of trying to look intimidating and not to slip on the ice.

"Well, looks like the tables have turned. I think this calls for a victory dance." He gloated in front of the captives as he proceeded to dance in front of them. As he did some beat boxing and made music for himself to dance to, Safeguard rolled her eyes and groaned.

"David, I told you this was a stupid idea. I said it thousands of times, and this proves how bad the idea actually was." She ranted while looking directly at the boy in the Victorian mask. Safeguard's complaining didn't get the response she was expecting, however. Instead, David smirked and proudly chuckled to himself.

"Actually, it worked better than I thought." He countered. "Even if they had a little help, if they can defeat us so quickly, then we don't have to be concerned about anything." The statement sparked some curiosity amongst their captors, even causing Carl to stop dancing. Carlota narrowed her eyes and walked towards David. When she got close enough, she bent down and stared directly into David's mask.

"What are you talking about?"

"If you want answers, then unmask my friend over there." David answered while nudging his head to the other boy. Though they were understandably skeptical of the offer, Ronnie Anne slowly walked over to the boy in the red hood. She then reached out and started to take off the boy's costume.

"This better not be some kind of trap." Ronnie Anne groaned as she took the mask off and took the hood down. As she and her family couldn't help but let out a small gasp as she saw what they looked like underneath. The most jarring physical trait alongside the familiar facial features was hands down the boy's hair. Which was a short and slightly messy shade of orange. Though slightly different from the age difference, Ronnie Anne still managed to recognize them. "C-C-Carlitos?"

The boy couldn't help but chuckle and give a nervous smile before giving a response.

"Hey, Prima… Long time no see."

* * *

**So, quick show of hands. How many of you were surprised that The Casagrandes get a time travel plot before The Sound Barrier?**

_I was just surprised to see my baby brother show up from the future at all. Not to mention what happens in his time..._

**Hold that thought, madam! We should save that for next time...**

**Before I call it a night, I would like to think Mr. Grey (or John-Grey Loud, whichever you prefer) for the concept of Safeguard. Which isn't real hard to guess their identity even without knowing about the suggestion from long ago. I would also like to thank Indy Scott for the concept of Carlitos' other companion. Brownie points to anyone who can deduce their mystery backstory. I'll try to keep my stories updating frequently. **

**But considering Steve from Minecraft just hit the Smash Bros scene...**

_Oh, come on. Really?_

**Don't judge me!**


End file.
